Life & Times of Steelers Wine Girl

The Challenge

2011-01-09T21:08:00.004-05:00

Okay, I'm dying to do the 30 day blog challenge! However, I don't currently have regular internet at home (meaning I'm too poor to pay for it myself and my neighbors don't always have connections I can steal from, LOL). So I'm going to make it the 6 week challenge instead - try to blog for 6 weeks in a row, covering 5 things each blog.

So, here's the list:

Week 1 (Days 1-5) - Your favorite song, Your favorite movie, Your favorite television program, Your favorite book, Your favorite quote

Week 2 (Days 6-10) - 20 of your favorite things, A photo that makes you happy, A photo that makes you angry/sad, A photo you took, A photo taken over 10 years ago of you

Week 3 (Days 11-15) - A photo of you recently, Something you are OCD about, A fictional book, A non-fictional book, Your dream house

Week 4 (Days 16 - 20) - A song that makes you cry (or nearly), An art piece (drawing, sculpture, painting, etc.), Your wedding/future wedding/past wedding, A talent of yours, A hobby of yours

Week 5 (Days 21-25) - A recipe, A website, A YouTube video, Where you live, Your day in great detail

Week 6 (Days 26-30) - Your week in great detail, Your worst habit, What's in your handbag/purse, Hopes, dreams, and plans for the next 365 days, A dream for the future

I'm going to start today, too, since I'm already behind.

Your Favorite Song

This was a super easy one for me. While there are many, many, songs I love, I only have one favorite band - the Doors. And although my favorite song within their catalogue has changed over the years, my current favorite has been my favorite for a while now.

"L.A. Woman." I LOVE it. The Doors typically had one song on each album that was longer, more epic, if you will. L.A. Woman was their final album before Jim Morrison died, and while I love the album, it's not my favorite. But the song, oh the song. When I hear the opening beats, it puts a grin on my face. When it's on the radio, my volume is cranked as loud as it can be. And when we're at the dive bar, after the Steelers game, you can bet it's on the jukebox. In fact, that dive bar gives me some of my best Doors loving experiences ever - because I'm always with other people who not only know the song, but sing the lyrics with me at the top of their lungs. I love how the music changes, beginning upbeat, then slowing down, then getting fast again. It's like a poem in the best possible way. It just makes me happy, always.

Your Favorite Movie

Okay, this one was a little bit tougher. I have many movies that I've watched over and over and can quote. I have watched Beaches and Steel Magnolias so many times I can tune in any time they're on television and recite the next line. Dirty Dancing is up there too.

But there's really only one comedy I adore. One comic movie I can watch any time and still laugh my ass off. When I lived in Virginia Beach, my roommate, Billy, and I would keep the DVD in the player at all times and we would watch snippets while we were eating.

Yup, Super Troopers. I think this movie is absolutely hilarious. I go places and want to ask for a liter of cola. I had never heard of it until someone made me watch it, and I can't even remember who that was. Every time I see a restaurant or bar named Shenanigans, I giggle. My roommate and my favorite line was "Good enough to F*ck your mother!!!" when they were shooting at the the dude who was wearing a bulletproof jock cup. "I just lost a buck...to myself." Seriously, it's a stupid, stupid movie. But I love it. And I just found out that Super Troopers 2 is going to be released this year - yes!!!

Your Favorite Television Program

Again, this one was a bit of a challenge. Do I pick Glee, which I've been obsessed with ever since the pilot previewed after American Idol last year? Do I pick American Idol, even though I'm pretty sure I'm going to hate the new judges? I definitely can't pick Grey's Anatomy despite how much I loved it since I haven't watched it in a seasons and a half.

So, I have to go with my old fave: Sex and the City

When SATC originally debuted, I didn't have HBO. Or at least regular access to it. Occasionally I'd go home from college and catch an episode at my parents' house, or somewhere else. I loved every episode I saw. After it began running on TBS, I saw them more frequently, but was always vaguely dissatisfied because I knew that they had been edited for television, both the language and the content.

Then, I discovered Season 1 at the Half-Price Bookstore. It was on sale, and I bought it. I popped in the first DVD and I was hooked all over again. I had to tear myself away from my television and remind myself that there was a world outside of my apartment. I craved the episodes, and scoured HPB until Seasons 2 and 3 popped up. Eventually, I had all 6 seasons. There's something about those four classy women that just encapsulate America and really examine what it's like to be a woman - whether in a relationship or not. I fell in love with these women, and they each have certain characteristics that I want to emulate. These DVD's are my go-to watching when I'm tired of television and sick of all of my movies. I go through them every year or so, starting with Season 1 and going straight through the movies. I'll keep them in my player and watch an episode or two at a time (well, I try to limit myself to only one or two). I was ecstatic when the first movie came out - I think they should make a new movie every two years forever. I just can't get enough of these women!!!

Your Favorite Book

Okay, my favorite series, hands down, is Harry Potter. But I'm not going to pick them. Partly because I feel like it would be cheating, partly b/c my friend Crazy Princess expressed her love for them better than I ever could, and partly b/c I would feel obligated to choose one book rather than the series (and selecting only one would be like picking a favorite child).

So, I'm going to go with an old favorite, one I reread annually: Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen really did it right when she wrote this, and I've loved it ever since I read it in high school. I can't imagine anyone NOT liking this book. I reread it at home over the Christmas break, and I race through it every time because I want Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy to be together immediately. I love how shocked Mr. Darcy is by his appreciation of Elizabeth Bennet, and I love how quirky Elizabeth's family is. I adore the romantic descriptions of the English countryside and the courting traditions. It makes me want to move there and go back in time.

Your Favorite Quote

Okay, I'm definitely cheating here. I have two, and I've loved these two probably since I was in high school.

"You don't love a person because they're beautiful. You love them because their heart sings a song only you can hear." ~ L. J. Smith

This is from one of the Night World books, by the author of The Vampire Diaries. I actually think I modified it a bit (I'm pretty sure the original quote says "she" instead of "they") but the sentiment is just beautiful. I love the idea that there are soulmates, and that people are together for reasons other than physical attraction.

"Give me songs to sing,

and emerald dreams to dream

and I'll give you love unfolding." ~ Jim Morrison

Again, I just think it's beautiful. What a wonderful marriage of words, and this quote demonstrates what an able poet Morrison was. It's a mixture of whimsy, fantasy, and longing, and I just adore it.

The Soapbox

2010-10-12T22:45:00.004-04:00

I was really looking forward to my second year of teaching. I stayed at the same school, my grade level team is the same, and we really got our stuff together at the end of last school year, so I knew we would work even better together this year. My incoming churn had already spent a year at the school, so I figured discipline wouldn't be the problem that it was last year.

One thing was changing, and it was major: our amazing principal, Dr. Roar, was leaving. He was being forcibly promoted - at least that's what he told us (he swore he didn't want to leave our school).

A few tidbits about Dr. Roar. When I had my phone interview, we played phone tag, and on his voicemail message, he roared. Literally - full throated, loud, powerful. Our mascot is a bobcat. I didn't meet him in person until I had already moved to Charleston. I've always been lucky enough to have great supervisors and strong relationships with them. Dr. Roar is truly the most charismatic person I've ever met in my life. He opens his mouth, the birds, bees, and churn fall silent, and are captivated by whatever he says (or roars). He looks like the guy from The Green Mile, so he's physically intimidating. But in a teddy-bear kind of way. He retired as an army colonel, so he's got discipline down pat.

Our kids would see him striding toward our trailers and cower. They were terrified of him. But despite his larger than life presence, he truly has the biggest heart. He regularly paid thousands of dollars to feed his staff on work days. He took money from his own pocket to create field day for the kids (think DJ and bouncy games). He sponsored pizza parties. He threw an elaborate Christmas party, and had us over to his home several times for gatherings.

Clearly, Dr. Roar's shoes would be impossible to fill. But I'd heard good things about the incoming principal. Shrubby, the new guy, had worked as an AP and a teacher at my school before moving on to be a principal elsewhere. So he knew the demographic, the strong community ties the students have, the mixed bag of staff he'd be getting.

But nothing is like I expected. Shrubby gave all of his power to our middle school AP (I'll call her the Nazi), who is the number one persona non grata at the school (every teacher had fingers crossed that she'd be gone before this school year started). She's a micro manager, she doesn't care about the kids, and she constantly undermines her teachers.

Shrubby is nothing more than a slick salesman type figurehead who wants to be in the "boys" club (male chauvinism is alive and well in South Carolina). He literally will not great his female employees, but makes a point to shake the hands of his male coaches on a daily basis.

I didn't have a functioning county-issued computer in my classroom for the first 3 weeks of school. If I didn't have a laptop, I would literally not have been able to teach (SMARTboard didn't work either). My phone, to this day (we're only 2 weeks away from the end of the first quarter), does not work. Shrubby merely shrugged off my problems, telling me there's nothing he can do.

The Nazi is just as bad, if not worse. She undermines us and constantly tells Shrubby how terrible her middle school team is (primarily because for all of us except for 3 teachers, last year was our first year teaching).

It's really frustrating because the middle school program really has the potential to turn this school around. We're a rural, poor school. Our demographic is primarily African-American, with a smattering of Hispanic students and a few White kids. They all get free or reduced lunch. They have crappy test scores, they can barely write, and they are far behind their grade levels.

The middle school teachers really believe in our kids (mostly). I can't begin to express how proud I am of my girls from last year. My favorite part of my day is seeing them in the high school. Are they all getting straight A's? No. But if they remember some literary terms, and plot elements, and occasionally where to put the period, I'm happy. There's no rebuilding Rome in a year.

We had students at our school who barely passed the 7th grade that were promoted to the 9th grade based on their age. Kids who failed the 8th grade were promoted to the 9th grade. Not only is this a COMPLETE disservice to the kids, it has to be completely demoralizing to sit in an algebra class with zero knowledge of pre-algebra. I commiserate - I took pre-algebra and barely made it through algebra. Most high school drop-outs in this demographic drop out in the 9th grade. I wonder why.

Okay, I really didn't mean for this post to be this long. It's really frustrating to be in this type of environment every day where the administration is only emphasizing data and test scores but won't help you address the kids' basic needs so that they can start to work on their upper level thinking skills.

Argh.

Surprise!

2010-09-23T21:22:00.004-04:00

Surprise! I'm still around, believe it or not. It's been a loooong time since I've posted, and I'm blaming Charleston for that. And my new friends. They're all younger than me, so I've been reliving my party heyday for the past year. It's been crazy, but I've had a great time! So, a quick recap:

Spring Break:

My 3 closest friends from Charleston and I went on a spring break adventure last spring. We drove to VA and spent a night with my wonderful friend, then headed to Washington, DC for a few days, eventually winding up in NYC before heading back south. We mostly had a great time, but there was some "friend" drama. One of my Charleston friends (let's call her Sci-fi) managed to offend the rest of us by day two of the trip. Not good. Apparently we had all been gradually getting annoyed with her, and the build-up came to fruition after spending every waking moment together. It culminated in a screaming match in an NYC subway station at 3:00 AM. Pretty awful. I feel bad for Sci-fi because I know she felt ganged-up on, but I also felt bad for us, who were being insulted and belittled regularly (Sci-fi is the type who, when teased, will come back with the meanest thing she can think of rather than something equivalent).

This pic of us is more recent than spring break (only a week or two old).

The Move:

My sister wound up moving back to Pittsburgh mid-May, which was not the plan. She was working a low-paying retail job that stunk, she never had money to spend, she got bored listening to my friends and me talk about school constantly (who can blame her!), Sci-fi was mean to her, and then her car broke down. So I was roommate-less two months early. I was really sad that she had to leave, particularly against her will, and I really miss her.

Summer School:

I taught summer school to the churn for 3 weeks (four days a week) in June. It was HELL. I had 5 7th grade students for 2 hours, followed by 4 8th grade students for 2 hours. None of the 8th graders had actually failed English - they just were thrown in my class to have somewhere to go. How do you motivate a 13 year old on a beautiful summer morning when they know that it doesn't matter if they fail your class? I surely couldn't figure it out!

The Big 3-0:

Yup, I turned 30 at the end of August. It was kind of a let-down, to be honest. I don't ever make a big deal out of my birthday - normally I'm good with dinner and a night on the town. But I really wanted to have a big bash for my 30th. Except that no one (except my amazing sister) came. I have friends who make a big deal out of their birthdays every year, and I guess I had hoped that they would reciprocate for my 30th, but...oh well. I always have a great time at their bashes, so I guess that's the important thing! My sister did an AWESOME job, decorating my apartment for me while I was at school, secretly buying a cake to come out for dessert at the restaurant, paying for way too much...and getting me a fabulous wine fridge :) My 3 closest Charleston friends (yes, including Sci-fi, mostly) were also great. I guess I should have stopped thinking about a big celebration after my 21st!

School Year #2:

I'm back at the same school, in the same grade, with the same colleagues, which is mostly great. I really, really, REALLY miss my girls from last year, which shocked me. I couldn't believe how happy and proud I was to see them in their 9th grade uniforms, calling to me across the parking lot or running over to hug me. My new crop of girls just isn't the same (yet). I'm trying very hard not to hold it against them that they're not my girls from last year, but they're also visiting their 7th grade teachers every opportunity that they get, so I guess we're even! I think we have a more cohesive team in the 8th grade, which means that we're meaner, and who would like that? But it's not all bad - there are a few girls that I can already tell are going to make my year. Plus I'm teaching an Honors class this year, which I love!

There's a lot of school and school district and budget drama that's been keeping me stressed out, but I think that's pretty much the same everywhere.

Until next time, enjoy this lovely picture of the 8th grade "hallway!"

Update

2009-09-08T21:24:00.002-04:00

Just a quick post to let you all know that I'm not gone for good! My sister and I officially moved to Charleston and are settled in. I actually already started school - we just finished our 3rd week, if you can believe it - and everything is going well on that front so far.

My school has been amazing so far, and my colleagues are just out-of-this-world. There are a number of us who all moved from out of state to teach our first year at this school, which has been wonderful because we all get along so well. It's like getting built-in friends with a new job, which is amazing!!

My classes are very small - 7 girls in each class, three classes a day. Remember, block scheduling, so I have them each for 90 minutes. Plus homeroom and one prep period/block. School starts SUPER early: 6:45 AM. Which means I'm up at 5 every day, eat lunch at 10:25 AM, and am saying sayonora to my girls at 2:10 PM. It would be nice if I actually left school shortly after that, but I usually don't leave until around 3:30 PM. Still better than getting home at 5 or 6 at night, though I would really love to sleep in for an extra hour every morning :)

So, I've been busy, to say the least. I will work on updating and being creative more often, and I will be going back and reading all that I've missed, I swear (I know, I always say that...but I always do it!). Miss you guys!!

Circus Skills

2009-07-30T22:21:00.005-04:00

I settled in at my parents' house tonight (after moving all of my worldly possessions out of my apartment) and decided to get caught up on Food Network shows. I had missed "The Next Food Network Star" on Sunday, and "Ace of Cakes" was on after that.

On "Ace of Cakes," they were making a cake for Cirque du Soleil in Baltimore, and they were going through all of the various layers and asking the employees of Charm City Cakes what skill they had that would be transferable to a circus environment. They were coming up with funny answers, but no one really had any hidden talents that related.

Of course, I immediately began to wonder what my response would be if I were asked that question. And then I realized: I have a talent that would actually be quite marketable in a circus.

I can walk on stilts.

Yup, stilts. How did I ever acquire such a random skill? When my sister and I were in middle school/junior high (probably ages 11-14), we both attended day camp at Sarah Heinz House. Sarah Heinz was married to H.J. Heinz, who founded the Heinz Corporation. Yeah, that Heinz, as in the condiment factory. Heinz was from Pittsburgh (hence Heinz Field, home of my beloved Steelers), in case you were unaware.

At any rate, it's basically a Boys & Girls Club, and during the summer they had 4 two week sessions of day camp. We attended all 4 and absolutely loved our lives. The weeks ran Monday through Thursday, and the first Thursday we would go on a field trip, the second would be some type of performance, fair, etc.

So we had 4 field trips (roller rinks, bowling, picnics) and 4 variety-type shows. These varied from carnivals to talent shows to...yup, you guessed it, a circus. Our families were invited to these performances so that they could see what we did during our days.

In the week prior to the performance, we would split into groups with different counselors and meet every day or every other day (details are slightly fuzzy so many years later) and figure out what we were doing for the big day. The rest of our days we were split into groups based on age and had a schedule of activities: ceramics, swimming, computers, crafts, games. The last "period" of the day we got to pick what we wanted to do.

During the group periods, we were always learning, whether it was a swimming stroke, how to play badminton, or learn fun things...such as walk on stilts.

This picture is what our stilts looked like, except that SHH's were painted bright blue and bright red. If I remember correctly, only the oldest group of students got to try to learn how to walk on the stilts, and I know I was jealous of those who were able to accomplish the feat.

It's really a question of balance, sort of like a unicycle (no, can't do that). I know that I tried and tried, struggled and struggled to learn and then, one day, voila! My turn came up, the counselor steadied the poles while I climbed on - and I could do it! I walked all the way across the parking lot/kickball field (hey, SHH is in the city. Us city kids can play on concrete, no prob!) and back.

I surprised the heck out of me, and out of everyone else in my group! I was one of the few who was able to master the skill and was forever envied and abused for my stilt-walking talents.

Now, before you're too impressed with me, take a peek at the picture to the left. See the sailor-like kid facing us? Look at how his arms are looped through the stilts and back around to hold the poles. Those are the skills I have.

So, despite my hidden talent, I don't think Cirque is going to be contacting me any time soon.

The other cool thing about my stilt story is that after I fell in love with stilt walking, someone in my family (can't remember who) either made or found a set of stilts made out of broomsticks and two triangular blocks of wood that they gave me. So, granted, I was no more than a foot from the ground, but it definitely upped my cool quotient in the neighborhood when I received my very own set of stilts.

Fortunately, the next time someone asks me about any talents that I have that would be beneficial in a circus...I don't have to panic or have cold sweats. I can calmly respond and impress the asker!

Liar!!

2009-07-21T16:43:00.002-04:00

The concept: Sometimes you can learn more about a person by what they don’t tell you. Sometimes you can learn a lot from the things they just make up. If you are tagged with this Meme, lie to me. Then tag 7 other folks (one for each deadly sin) and hope they can lie.

Thanks, VP, for tagging me...here goes!

Pride: What is your biggest contribution to the world?
Obviously, my biggest contribution to the world was the wheel. Just think about how many things would not move without this invention? No bikes, no cars, no skateboards, no roller blades, no shoes with wheels on the bottom. Kids would actually have to use their own two feet to get from one place to another. Thank heavens I invented the wheel!

Envy: What do your coworkers have that you wish was yours?
Well, I'm going to pretend I'm still at the hospital while answering this, since I haven't met my new teacher co-workers yet. What I really wish that I had was my former boss's keyboard. He eats over top of it, so there are always little crumbs and bits of foodstuff lingering amongst the keys. His favorite snacks are popcorn and Reese peanut butter cups, and I really think that the remnants of these items just taste delicious. So I really wish I had his keyboard!

Gluttony: What did you eat last night?
Last night I went to this AMAZING French restaurant in Bloomfield and had escargot, pate, and a delicious crispy baguette sandwich made with thinly sliced ham, brie, and arugula and some crazy vinaigrette drizzled all over it. It was fabulous! Then, for dessert, I had tiramisu, cheesecake, German chocolate cake, and espresso. All at the same time, on the same fork. Don't knock it till you've tried it!

Lust: What really lights your fire?
I'm really into hair gel/spray. I love it when a guy has put tons of product in his hair and my fingers get all tangled and sticky. I adore the smell of alcohol and strong scent that attempt to overpower the chemicals in the hair gunk. Just thinking about it makes me all tingly.

Anger: What is the last thing that really pissed you off?
The last thing that made me really mad was watching The Bachelorette last night. I mean, who does Jillian think she is, selecting one guy from 30? I can't believe the guys didn't tear her a new one on the "Men Reveal All" show last night. Jillian is so stuck-up, fat, and ugly she does NOT deserve to be the Bachelorette. Seriously, who does she think she is? Grr!

Greed: Name something you hoard and keep from others.
Myself. I hate to be social, and I really just want to be able to live in my room, alone with my books and my laptop surrounded my by things like a troll. I go out as little as possible and I really hate to meet new people. I would ideally work from the cave of my room and get rid of my cell phone so as to minimize all contact with others as much as possible.

Sloth: What’s the laziest thing you ever did?
Probably when I backed up my car to the fruit and vegetable stand on the side of the road on the way to the beach. I didn't want to find a parking spot and I definitely didn't want to waste time picking out the ripest fruits. So I backed into the stand, opened the back hatch, and just swept all of the items on the table into the back of the car. Then I drove away. It would've taken way too long to pay.

Okay, this Meme was way more fun than I expected it to be. Who knew I could think of such great stories? I'm tagging: Robin, Mary Beth, Caitlyn, Shades, Andie, Courtney, and Kristen & Seth. Enjoy!

Update

2009-07-14T02:03:00.002-04:00

Yeah, so I'm not so great at keeping up with this blogging thing, huh? LOL

My time since student teaching has ended has been filled with bursts of busy trips and events followed by several days of laziness. I have been reading a lot, applied for many jobs, went on interviews, had phone interviews, visited friends, etc. I have obsessively checked my Facebook page and my emails, but not my blogs. I have basically turned my brain off for the summer and have not been spending tons of time on my laptop beyond a quick FB quiz.

Here's a quick summary of the highlights of the past few months:

May
Went to Myrtle Beach, SC and interviewed at 4 schools plus had a district interview. All of them went very well except for the very first one - it was at the school I was most interested in, was my first one of the day, and I was completely nervous and had not hit my stride. After that, they all went exceptionally well, particularly the district interview, when one of the teachers on the panel told me she wished she could have tape recorded my response to a question and played it for her current teacher.

While in MB, I spent great times with my cousin Erin and her fiance, my daddy, and my friend Jamie. It was a fun trip, though I wound up not getting any of the jobs. My friend Jamie got the one at the first place I interviewed, and the rest of the jobs were filled by displaced employees.

After MB, my dad and I drove to Savannah for another interview that didn't even happen - the HR lady was super unprofessional and forgot she had scheduled an interview...they didn't know what positions would be open and I was there for 10 minutes. The only good thing about it was that my cousin Amy drove up from Orlando and we got to spend time with her, which was great.

June
Towards the end of May I began to panic b/c I hadn't found a job yet, so at the beginning of June I backed out of my California summer job. I REALLY hated to do it, but I needed to be able to have the time and the opportunity to job search and potentially interview.

I found out the first week of June that the first draft of my thesis was due the day after I found this out. I had barely touched it in a year, so I went into major panic mode. I spent the majority of that week working on the paper, staying up late and mainlining caffeine in order to have something to turn in to my professors. They would then have a month to comment and offer revisions, and then I would have 2 weeks to make the final changes. That was a stressful week.

The Pens won the Stanley Cup! Wo-hoo!!! Now, I'm sure that most of you realize that I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Steelers fan but don't know much about hockey. Last year I sort of got into it during the playoffs, and it was the same this year - I was obsessed. I know that makes me the kind of Pens fan that I would hate in a Steelers fan (if that even makes sense) but I don't care. I had a blast watching all of the games and biting my nails during them. And texting my cousin Ben to find out what was actually happening. He was great at dumbing down the rules so that my football shaped brain could understand what was going on.

I got a job!! I had a phone interview with a principal in Charleston, SC. I had had many with other schools in Horry County by this point, so I wasn't expecting much, no matter how well the interview went. Imagine my shock when I was offered the job at the end of the interview! A phone interview! With a person I had never met! In a city I had never visited! It didn't sink in right away - I kept telling people, "I think I got a job...but I'm waiting to hear from HR."

The position is with a public school 17 miles from downtown Charleston. I will be teaching 7th grade. I know, why would I want to do this after what I went through with my student teaching? By the time I had this phone interview, I had resigned myself to the idea that I might possibly have to accept a middle school position, since despite getting nothing but glowing feedback, I wasn't actually getting any job offers. Enter this interview. This is the first year that 7th and 8th grades are going to be at the high school (although the students will be separated, of course) in an effort to increase school test scores. The kids will be in single gender classes, on a block schedule, and I won't have more than 14 KIDS IN A CLASS. That bears repeating. I won't have more than 14 kids in a class!!!!!

Under these circumstances, I couldn't turn the job down (I mean, not that others were knocking my door down anyway). There was still a possibility of getting a job in Horry County or in FL, but the principal sounded great on the phone and I think even I will be capable of dealing with 14 students - only boys or only girls - at a time. I'm also excited about Charleston b/c it's a larger city than Myrtle Beach, and I was concerned about getting bored in MB like I did in VA Beach. So all around, it was good news.

I visited Delaware for the first time. One of my best friends moved there for the summer and I went with her to move her in and to make sure the roommate she would be living with was not secretly into kiddie porn or animal torture. I had a blast while I was there, and spent some time on the beach (although not much - the weather was kinda crappy most of the time I was there) and learning fun facts about the state. Yes, I'm a dork, but I bet I know more about DE than you do! BTW, the roommate is normal ;)

At the end of June, I visited Charleston. I was supposed to have New Hire Orientation, but of course they canceled it right after I booked my hotel. I went anyway, and spent 2 days finding a place to live, checking out the school, exploring the area, and doing things like opening a checking account. I found an apartment that seems pretty great that my sister is also excited about, and that has guest suites on site for visitors (hint, hint).

July
Started off with a bang on July 4th weekend (pun intended) having a great time with friends doing fun Pittsburgh activities. I keep trying to make sure I savor the times I'm having while I'm still here, but I know it won't hit me that I'm leaving until I've been living in SC for a week or two!! I'm excited about having plenty of time around holidays to come back to the 'Burgh for visits, since I usually could only come home for Christmas and the occasional weekend when I lived in VA Beach.

After the holiday, I met with my thesis advisor and got the rundown of the corrections I have to do. She is also my professor, the only one I've actually had for more than one class. She also gave me some really nice feedback about the dumb student teaching presentation I had to do right after the experience was over, which was great. And the damage wasn't too horrible on my thesis, thank heavens!

This past weekend I had a fan-freaking-tastic time in Virginia with friends. We went to a wine festival and a favorite restaurant (multiple times) and had an absolute blast. I'm not even going to go into more details than that because I will literally be typing all night and it's already 2:30 AM!

Yeah, my nocturnal tendencies have shone through during my time off, also. I began wanting to get up at a reasonable hour every day and go to bed around midnight each night, but that didn't last long. I'm just not a morning person, and since I don't have to get up for anything super early, I can't motivate myself to do it! I mean, I'm not sleeping until noon, but I'm not bouncing out of bed at 8:00 AM either. I will have the shock of the century when I have to be at school by 7:10 AM every morning (with a 1/2 hour drive!).

So, that's my long-winded explanation of where I've been. I'll try not to stay away as long, and I will try to get back to reading/commenting on everyone else's blogs! I have actually been reading them periodically, but I get so far behind that I usually don't comment. But I will again, I swear!

P.S. - Let me know if you find any glaring spelling errors - I tried to spell check but it only gave me words that were spelled correctly and I am terrible about catching my own mistakes!

Random Goodness

2009-04-28T22:38:00.003-04:00

So, student teaching is over. Kaput. Gonzo. Finite.

Wo-hoo! I celebrated all weekend and shockingly enough, the Pittsburgh weather cooperated. It was gorgeous and sunny and I have my first tan lines of the season. Of course, I have to get rid of them since the bridesmaid's dress my cousin wants me to wear in October is strapless, but...

Now that I'm officially unemployed, I have been enjoying my free time (although it's only been two days) and biting my nails about finding a job. If you want regular updates, you can follow me on Twitter. I joined last week and am obsessed. My favorite thing about it is that I can do it from my phone - I can easily text 140 characters multiple times throughout the day, and also keep up with the people I know on Twitter, b/c I can get text updates from people if I want to.

(Yes, I just saw that I can evidently update my blog via my phone...but it's a little tougher to do, methinks).

I do have a few interviews set up in a couple of weeks. Not sure if I mentioned it, but I did interview in New Orleans in March. That went well, and I actually got an offer of sorts, but I turned it down since I have some prospects on the East Coast, which will make my sister happier.

My first upcoming interview is with Horry County School District, which is Myrtle Beach, SC. I actually interviewed with an HR rep at a job fair here in Pittsburgh, and now I'm going to visit a few schools and have a district-wide interview next month. Then, I'll drive down to Savannah, GA and interview with their HR department. They don't know exact openings yet, but they should have a good idea by the time I interview, so keep your fingers crossed that they are able to set up meetings with a principal or two while I'm down there!

Some funny things that happened my last day of school:

~ My CT had my classes each sign a "Thank You, Good Luck" card for me in their Math class. One of the students wrote that she wanted me not to remember her for always being late, but to remember her b/c she's a good student. If she was a good student, I might - but she wasn't! Oops. Another kid wrote: "Good Luck...'cuz your gonna need it!" I laughed at this but was a little hurt b/c this is from one of my good students. Then I saw him and he was genuinely sad to see me go...so I think he meant "Good Luck because the students will possibly be evil." LOL

~ I scrambled at the last minute to create a "bulletin board" out in our hallway. It was a requirement of my student teaching but I treated it almost as a joke for two reasons: 1)I'm a secondary teacher, not elementary. My advisor and supervisor did not put a lot of importance in this. 2)There was zero space in my classroom. So we post student work in the hall, but we couldn't keep it up during PSSAs or for weeks afterwards. At any rate, I finally put some poems on pretty Word stationary and hung it up in the hallway. Based on my CT's and the teacher across the hall's reactions, you would have thought I altered constellations. They were really excited.

~ I let my second class ask me personal questions which I would decide whether or not to answer. This was hilarious. They debated whether or not I had any kids - Thursday was "Bring Your Kid To Work" day, and half the class was missing, so they didn't know if I brought a tot in with me or not. One student told another I was only 20 (ha!) so I was too young to have kids yet. Another said people can have kids when they're 14, so I could have had a kid. The funniest, though, was when they were trying to guess my first name. Jasmine, Jessica...the guesses were awesome. Finally, I told them the first letter, and the first girl guessed "Sarah" immediately...then didn't believe me when I told her that was right. They said it didn't sound right with my last name. Hee hee hee.

So I just re-read this post and it's really stream-of-consciousness, so forgive me! Also, I'm still getting caught up on everyone else's blogs, but I should be doing that this week :)

Spring Break

2009-04-13T23:50:00.006-04:00

So, all last week I was on Spring Break from school, which was fabulous and which I had been looking forward to since January. Yes, these vacations are DEFINITELY more for the teachers than the students!

At any rate, the term "spring break" still takes a piece of my heart to the crazy beaches of Panama City, FL and Cancun, so I really wanted to take a trip. I toyed with visiting my cousin in Orlando, FL, but I waited too long to look into flights so by the time I did they were outrageously expensive. Finally, I talked to my dad and asked him if he just wanted to go north for the week.

Let me break down the terms: Camp vs. Cottage.

Camp - my dad's side of the family (my Pappap and ALL of his brothers) bought an old farmhouse in the 1950s to hunt at. It's in Pleasantville, PA, which is near Titusville. History buffs will know that Titusville is where oil was discovered - yup, that's right. PA, not TX!

At any rate, the property is now owned by misc. male relatives, including my dad and uncle, cousins, great-uncles, etc. When I was growing up, we spent all of our holiday weekends at Camp, sitting around the bonfire outside and walking in the woods. In the early 1990s, they tore down the original farmhouse and rebuilt a smaller cabin with primarily just bedroom space and a huge kitchen/eating area. It's primary function has always been a hunting camp and guys don't care if they share a loft with five other guys.

My family and my dad's brother's family were always together at Camp, and we always had a blast. We have some fairly ridiculous traditions, including tramping through the woods, climbing deer stands, and singing "Skinna-Marinki-Dinki-Dink, I Love CAMP" at the end of every trip - while my uncle filmed it. But we loved it, and I think it's a big reason why I'm so close to those cousins today.

Then, 6 years ago, my parents bought the Cottage - never, EVER to be confused with Camp. The Cottage is in Linesville, PA, on Lake Pymatuning. I know I've written about the Cottage before - that's where we went for our grand wine trip in the fall. The Cottage has much more modern amenities and is more of a home than Camp. Camp is more primitive.

Since the Cottage, we generally go there for all of our holiday weekends. My dad's sister and her family own a house across the road from ours, it's on the lake, there's slightly more to do...we even manage to convince my other aunt, uncle, and cousins to come over for at least a day during the holiday weekends. So we're all still together and slightly more comfortable.

The long and short of it is that I haven't been to Camp in a few years. And I love the Cottage, but haven't been there since last fall. My sister was off of work until Wednesday, and she wanted to go to Camp, too, so we decided to go there for a few days and then my dad and I would head over to the Cottage (about a 45-minute drive).

Little did I know that this is what would great me on Tuesday morning, after waking up at Camp for the first time in years:

This was the view looking into the woods in the back yard. My sister, Pappap, and I took a walk through the snowy woods. There was about a foot on the ground. And it wasn't there on Monday when we got there (although a layer had spread on the ground by the time we went to dinner at about 7:00 PM).

This is the view looking back towards Camp from the woods. I was playing around with the color on my camera :) Sepia tone!

Pretty snow-covered branches on fallen trees. I did also climb up my Pappap's tree stand but I was dumb and didn't take my camera up with me.

The front of Camp. It was actually snowing really hard when I took this picture, but you can't see the flakes for some reason - must be too small. We were in a hurry to leave by this point (early afternoon on Tuesday). My Pappap's truck is rear-wheel drive and the ground under the snow was mud, so he was worried about not getting out. Oh, and there was no hot water. So we all were ready for a hot shower!

These are my feet, covered in snow. I am so glad I brought my rain boots up north with me! I was expecting mud, not snow, but got both.

I am not a snow lover, but I didn't mind it this time for once. I was on vacation, so I didn't need to be anywhere. And I wasn't driving, so I couldn't be ticked at my stupid car for sliding on the slick roads (which it does). It was really nice to walk in the woods through the snow and hear the sounds of nature. The entire walk, Robert Frost's "Walking Through the Woods on a Snowy Evening" was floating through my mind:

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Obviously, it wasn't evening, but what can I say, we had just finished a poetry unit with my kids!

Back to Life

2009-04-08T12:41:00.002-04:00

Wow. I had no idea when I wrote that last e-mail that it would be more than a month before I would be back to the blog-world. I've missed it!

So, some necessary updates. First, the reason why I've been gone so long - I'm pointing the finger solely at student teaching. The lesson plans totally got in the way. At the beginning of my assignment, I tried valiantly to be as prepared as possible, spending at least a day each weekend creating lesson plans for the week, blocking out my classes and trying to determine when I'd be covering each topic in the unit.

But of course, things never go the way you plan! After a half dozen or so lesson plans were written and completely thrown by the wayside, I started writing them later and later...until I was usually writing the lesson plan the night before the lesson was taught. Not an ideal situation, but my CT never even glanced at the work I had done aside from asking if I was prepared or felt ready for the day. I kept with my block plans and altered those instead of my 3-4 page detailed plans.

It has actually worked out this way pretty well - I've found that I'm more flexible, I am able to adjust to what we didn't get done during the previous lesson (which caused some plans to overlap) but overall, it worked.

So picture it: every night, I'm parked on the couch in my apartment, laptop on, papers spread everywhere, pretending to write the lesson plan and correct homework but really...catching up on peoples' blogs. So I would stay up later and later...you get the picture.

Something had to go, and unfortunately, it was my blog world. But only temporarily! I am still shocked I've stayed away this long. Anyone on Facebook can see my much more regular updates there, but it's much easier to read a one-sentence status than it is to read a multi-paragraph blog.

At any rate, student teaching is winding to a close, and you will see me here much more frequently. I'm currently on spring break for the week, and then I only have two weeks - TWO WEEKS! - until student teaching is over.

So here is my promise - I promise to go back and read every single blog post I've missed, and I'll probably comment on most of them. So check your old posts for new comments! I promise to not stay away so long, and hopefully at least update my blog weekly until student teaching is done. I promise, I have missed you more than you have missed me!!

Another quick update is on the job front - I have had a few interviews, and I'm narrowing down where I want to live. I went to New Orleans for an interview, I also had interviews with Horry County, SC (Myrtle Beach) and Palm Beach County, FL (West Palm). And I've applied to Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA. I want to be on the coast in a fairly urban area...I can't deal with anything too rural. So keep your fingers crossed! Everything happens for a reason, and I've found this to be true with jobs more than anything else.

So, welcome back, me! I'm so excited to return, and I can't wait to find out what everyone's been up to!

MIA

2009-03-01T23:51:00.002-05:00

So, the truth is that I've been slightly lazy with my lesson plans (which is why I'm always working on them). For the end of last week I just was doing them the night before. My CT doesn't need them any earlier, and the classes have been so far behind that I wind up with extra lesson plans that we never use if I try to do them too far in advance.

But, because of this schedule, I haven't been keeping up with my blog friends, which makes me sad. But I am going to try to get back in the game this week and catch up again, I swear! I also have fun things to share about my kids, but I just don't have the time right this second. But, soon, I promise. And I have my first job interview! Geez, it has been awhile. Hopefully I'll be able to fill everyone in tomorrow or Tuesday. For now, I need to hit the sack!

25 - er, 26 Things...

2009-02-22T01:12:00.003-05:00

I'm copping out on this post and using a meme I saw on Vegas Princess's blog. Plus my cousin Caitlyn tagged me on Facebook for 25 Random things...so I figured I'd just do this and make it 26 "sort of" random things (sort of because there are prompts for each letter).

Plus, last week was a "free" week at school: we watched a movie, reviewed, took a test, and a poet came. So I had really easy lesson plans, which was nice. And, a big Congratulations to my cousin Erin (Caitlyn's sister) who got engaged over the weekend :) Love you!

A is for age: 28...wow, that's scary. Especially since I'll be 29 in August. Eek!!

B is for burger of choice: There is some type of southwest burger at Red Robin that has guacamole and pepperjack cheese and is a-ma-zing.

C is for the car I drive: 1998 Ford Explorer (not 4 wheel drive, which means I slide all over the road in snow). I think it's sort of a sea-foam green color.

D is for your dog's name: Iggy is my parents' dog, but she totally counts. Her full name is Ignatz, after some cartoon that only my father has ever heard of.

E is for essential item you use every day: I would have to say my cell phone, too. I think the only other items I use daily are boring ones like toothbrush and toilet, and I didn't want to go there ;)

F is for favorite TV show at the moment: American Idol has taken over my evenings. It's a heck of a commitment but I can't resist!

G is for favorite game: Computer game - mah-jong, board game - anything trivia, video game - Mario Cart on my sister's Wii!

H is for home state: Pennsylvania

I is for instruments you play: I guess that would be piano, though I am definitely at the beginner level, despite my mom's best efforts when I was growing up.

J is for favorite juice: Cranberry

K is for whose bum you'd like to kick: One of my student's, who shall remain nameless. Little manipulative brat.

L is for last restaurant at which you ate: Patron

M is for your favorite Muppet: Oscar the Grouch

N is for number of piercings: 3 in my left ear, two in my right, assuming they haven't closed up. I rarely wear earrings.

O is for overnight hospital stays: 0, unless you count however long I was in when I was born...

P is for people you were with today: My classmate, Jamie

Q is for what you do with your quiet time: read, sleep

R is for biggest regret: Not being better at keeping in touch...I know there are so many good friends I have let slip through the cracks through sheer laziness.

S is for status: S is also for Single!!!

T is for time you woke up today: I think about 9:00 AM

U is for what you consider unique about yourself: My voracious reading appetite. I've never met anyone who reads as much and as quickly as I do. Oh, and who lets almost every book consume them like mine do!

V is for vegetable you love: Corn on the cob and artichokes

W is for worst habit: Being lazy

X is for x-rays you've had: Um...both ankles multiple times...I think that's it. I had a CAT scan at one point to make sure I didn't have a tumor...not sure if that counts or not!

Y is for yummy food you ate today: I'd rather talk about the yummy food I ate at Patron: authentic Mexican cuisine! Taco salad and nachos with white, delicious cheese. Yum!

Z is for zodiac: Virgo

Disappointed

2009-02-17T21:35:00.002-05:00

So, I started L.J. Smith's newest Vampire Diaries book on Monday night...and I don't know if I can finish it. The tone is totally different, to the point that it almost feels (to me) like it was written by a different author.

Now I have been keeping in mind the fact that it's been 18 years since the original Diaries were published. So I'm willing to suspend my disbelief enough to allow her to include new technology that wasn't popular back then (cell phones, laptops). But the characters sound completely different, and the story is going in a direction that is completely separate from the original four books.

I'm so disappointed! I was so excited for this book and could barely reread the other four fast enough to start the new one. But I'm setting it aside for the time being. Maybe if I distance myself from the original books I'll be able to return to this one in a few weeks or months.

I Couldn't Resist...

2009-02-13T20:19:00.004-05:00

Although I'm more excited about this one, since it's brand, brand, brand new...

I'm still pretty excited to have shiny, new copies of the entire series. They certainly won't replace the old ones in my heart, but I love how the publisher made them. Okay, the faces creep me out a bit. But for Elena and Stefan, I'll deal. And for Bonnie and Matt and Meredith. Oh, and definitely for Damon.

Silly

2009-02-11T22:34:00.010-05:00

First, my observation went great. My supervisor was fantastic and had really supportive comments. The funniest remark he had was that apparently I said "okay" 55 times during my lesson. 55 TIMES! Holy Cow. I guess it's better than "uh" or "like," right? My CT said that it was probably just the way I checked for "wait time" to make sure that the kids were on the same page as me. Heck, if that's the worst I did, I'll take it!!

I've been in the land of middle school kids for over a month now, and I've observed some fantastic trends. Here we go:

Trend #1: Rubber bands (in Pittsburgh we call them gumbands) wrapped around the bottoms of jeans. Not sure why this is popular, I think it looks bizarre, but I've seen many kids sporting it. Looks something like this:

I've only seen the girls sporting this trend. I want to know - doesn't it cut off their circulation?

Trend #2: Tying big winter scarves like bandanas. I started seeing it in school and have recently seen it a few other places too. Most of the girls wear plaid scarves and then match something else (shoes, pants, accessories) to one of the dominant colors. Here's a sample:

I actually don't have a problem with this trend. When you coordinate everything, it's a bit too matchy-matchy for me, but other than that, I'm all for anyone who can figure out the correct way to tie a scarf, let alone wear it effectively! LOL. I am clueless!

Trend #3: I already touch on this when I was at the airport in December. Boots over pants. However, this is the extreme version. Truly, when I was at the airport, I hadn't seen anything. Middle school girls go all out with the trend. And they will wear any boot. ANY boot.

Like these two pictures. When I see these boots on these young girls, it makes me remember the ugly, lonely boots that seem to be on clearance at Marshall's or TJ Maxx's for eons. You know what I'm talking about - the ones with tassles or sparkles or obnoxiously faux fur. Yup. Those would be the ones my kids adore. Heck, it's good to know that there is a market for this crap!

If you're wondering why I'm so dumbfounded by these ridiculous clothes, it's because I was a Catholic school girl. I had uniforms my entire life. Which explains why I was such a clueless dresser when I finally reached college! All I knew was plaid skirts and starched blouses. So it's really interesting to me to see how big a role fashion plays even for kids this young. It certainly passed me right by!

Insecurities

2009-02-10T22:20:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow, my student teaching Supervisor is observing me for the first time, and I'm super nervous. There are two primary reasons, I think, that are making me more anxious.

First, for the past two days the kids have been doing vocab, which is very boring but very necessary. We should have been giving them three or four words with every chapter of the book, but my CT sort of let it lapse and so did I. So now that we're finishing the book this week, I wanted to make sure that they were at least passingly familiar with the terms. The result: a huge vocab list of words for them to define. It's busywork, and boring for them, but they did okay with it. But I think it's just reinforced how ready we all are to be done with the book, so I'm afraid I'm going to have some dragging responses to the discussion tomorrow.

Second, one of my classmates was observed last week and did fantastically, as I knew she would. She's been having a really hard time with her CT, who is very demanding and critical. But my classmate is brilliant and I've always known she's going to be a great teacher. We happen to have the same supervisor, and he observed her last week. It was wonderful for her b/c he stood up for her against her Nazi CT and gave her great feedback. So now I am convinced I will pale in comparison and it makes me ridiculously nervous.

Overall, I just can't wait until this novel is finished and we've moved on to the next unit, which is poetry. At least with poetry, if the kids don't like a poem, we all know we won't be dwelling on it for weeks - and they may very well like the next poem that comes along.

Anyway, on a positive note, jellybean's most recent post gave me a trip down memory lane. My favorite author growing up was L.J. Smith (Lisa Jane Smith). She wrote books about vampires, witches, and shapeshifters which I devoured. I had every one of her books. Okay, I still have them. And I still re-read them occasionally.

While in Target a few months ago, I discovered that her Vampire Diaries series is being republished, along with her Secret Circle series (the one about witches). I was so excited that more people would be reading her work, I almost started crying in the store. Yes, I am emotionally attached to my favorite books!

See, the thing is that L.J. Smith wrote these books back in the early 1990s (when I was prepubescent and it was acceptable for me to be reading young adult novels). I read Vampire Diaries first. It originally had four books, and I remember buying them one at a time and agonizing over when I would have all four. And then I promptly proceeded to read them - literally - to tatters. Then I discovered The Secret Circle trilogy. Tatters again. Her other series are The Forbidden Games (the third book in this trilogy takes is set in an alternate world of Kennywood, the amusement park in Pittsburgh), and then Dark Visions. Yes, I own every book. Finally, she started The Night World series. There are 9 Night World books, and the last one was published in 1998.

1998 is the year I graduated from high school. Needless to say, by this time I was somewhat ashamed of my rabid following of this author, but she was so good I couldn't give her up. And the Night World series was setting up for an apocalyptic climax. I couldn't wait for the last book to be published.

But it never was. L.J. Smith fell off the face of the earth. I looked for the books every where, I googled her and found a fan website that said that they thought Smith was very ill. I don't know if this is true or not, but the point is that she disappeared without ever having her last book of the series published.

Now do you see why I was on the verge of tears when I saw her books re-published a few months ago? LOL.

So she's back. She even has some new short stories on her website. And she's writing a fifth Vampire Diaries book! So I would recommend to all of you to snatch up her books while you can. The format is different - the series are split differently. I think both The Vampire Diaries and The Secret Circle are being published in two books as opposed to four and three. Heck, I'm such a freak that I'll probably buy them in the new format, too. Plus, my old copies are just that - old. I don't want them to fall apart on me!

I will leave you with one of my favorite lines from one of her books - a line that I scribbled onto every notebook, binder, and looseleaf paper I could find while I was in high school

"You don't love a person because they're beautiful. You love them because their heart sings a song only you can hear." ~ Lisa Jane Smith

World Champions

2009-02-03T20:18:00.003-05:00

Obviously, I had to bring up the amazing Super Bowl win that the Steelers accomplished on Sunday. I mean, wow. What a game! I'm so proud of my team, I knew that they could do it. I'm mildly embarassed to say that I was in tears when the game ended. Gah. What a dork!

Two things make me sad about the Super Bowl:

1 - that I wasn't in Tampa to see it. If I was still at my job at the hospital, I would have been able to take Monday off and would have flown down and at least tailgated and enjoyed the atmosphere. Oh well, maybe next year - anyone know where the next game is going to be? Hopefully somewhere warm!!

2 - that I could't hear the parade downtown today. Again when I worked at the hospital and we won Super Bowl XL, I could hear the fans cheering from my office. And we logged on to my computer and watched the live coverage. Couldn't do that at school today, sigh. Oh well!

But these are truly minor details and I'm so thrilled for the guys on the team I can't even express it! I'm happy and sad to have my Sundays back. It will be great to have more time for lesson plans, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't sad to have to wait for happy tailgates. Especially since I probably won't be living in the 'Burgh next year.

On second thought, I won't miss looking like a marshmellow for every game. This pic is my dad zipping my sister's coat. That's right, she couldn't do it herself. Sheesh!

Here We Go...

2009-02-01T12:32:00.004-05:00

I just updated this post w/the videos I only had links to previously....I am going to the head of the class!

The top video is the newest local sensation: Pop Rocks are a middle school band and it's a Steelers version of "Heartbreaker."

The bottom video will is the 2008-2009 version of the unoffical Steelers theme song.

Here we go, Steelers, here we go!!!!!!!!!

Snow Day

2009-01-28T16:05:00.002-05:00

Well, sort of a snow day/freezing rain day. It's gone back and forth all night and all day today. But, the important thing is that I didn't have to go to school today!

I've been trying to decide if it's more exciting for the teachers or for the students to have a snow day. I remember being in school and running to the window to see if it snowed during the night. If it did, I would immediately turn on my radio and listen to the list of school closings, hoping and praying that mine would be mentioned.

It rarely was. When I was really young, my mom just wouldn't wake me up if we had a snow day. I would wake up to a sunny bedroom, sleepily wondering why it was so bright outside. Then I would tear around the house, looking for my mom (my sister was always still sleeping) to confirm my suspicions - no school today! I never thought about her not being able to go to work. We always played outside in our snowsuits and drank hot chocolate. Truly, it was the picturesque day you might imagine when thinking about children in the snow.

But this was an extremely rare occurrence.

When I hit high school, my sister and I were bussed from the city to a private school in the suburbs. We followed the schedule of Pittsburgh Public Schools, which at the time never had 2 hour delays due to how many working parents would be unable to stay home with their children. But my high school followed the schedule of the closer school district, which did have 2 hour delays. The result? My sister and I, along with the dozen or so other kids bussed in from the city, were at school at the regular time. We would hang out in the hallways and watch MTV in one of the classrooms, waiting for the rest of the students to arrive.

So truly, to have an entire day off of school was rare and wonderful. So I can truly appreciate how excited the students must be to have a snow day.

But now I'm a teacher. And I'm just as thrilled as they must be! My CT texted me this morning to let me know that schools were closed (I was still busily ignoring my alarm clock and hadn't turned on the news yet). Our texts were full of exclamation points. We really have no reason to be this excited, considering we already had two easy days this week - Monday and Tuesday were in-service days, without students. Yesterday I even got to sleep in and not go to school until noon. And we were done at 3:00 PM both days.

So while I should be writing lesson plans for the Newspaper Unit I get to construct, I'm too busy enjoying my extra day. And now there are only two school days until we have another weekend. And we had a short week last week due to MLK day.

I should be savoring this time more than I am. I don't think we get another day off until our spring break in April. Yeah, April. As in, two long months away.

But hopefully this crappy weather will actually persist long enough to give us at least one more snow day. In mid-February, maybe. Have I mentioned that's my least-favorite month?

Yeah, one more day would be good...

News!

2009-01-27T00:01:00.007-05:00

Okay, the most exciting thing (besides still living on the Steelers Super Bowl cloud) in my life right now is that I just got a new laptop. My old one bit the dust yesterday for the last time, and my roomie and I did some quick comparison shopping today. I need to start writing lesson plans, so I didn't want to wait for a delivery.

But this means that I will be able to blog way more often, and I'll be able to see everything everyone else posts! My old laptop was so ghetto that I couldn't even view videos anymore.

There hasn't really been any updates on the school front for several reasons. First, I missed one day of school b/c of my Pappap, and fortunately the other day wound up being a snow day (which means I only have to make up one day at the end). And aside from that, we didn't have school for MLK day, the next day was dedicated to the Inauguration, the next day we had a poet come and talk to the class....and Thursday we had a benchmark test. So it's been a bust.

This week is going to be more of the same: in-services today and tomorrow, Wednesday is the poet again, which leaves only one day of classes - Thursday. Friday is a different schedule.

On Friday, I will be starting a new Newspaper Unit. I'm pretty excited about this b/c I do not have a super strict curriculum to stick to like I will for my regular classes. So I can plan the entire unit from scratch for 9 weeks, which will be a good experience for me. Any ideas you guys have will be welcomed!

The other bonus about my laptop is that I was FINALLY able to upload some pics to show to you guys! So, enjoy:

Here's me, my dad, and my sister at one of our many Steelers tailgates this year...

These are pictures from Christmas Eve, when I was making my cousins pose like the pictures on the walls at the diner where we ate breakfast.

Ben is the grinning kid...with a few extra teeth!

And Amy, obviously, is Betty Boop!

Here are my cousin Luke's adorable twin daughters devouring their green cupcakes on Christmas day and working hard to permanently turn their teeth and tongues green:

Good Vibrations

2009-01-20T19:17:00.003-05:00

I stole this from Food, Sweat and Mirrors...here are the rules:

1. Put your iTunes on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
Get Into the Groove - Madonna
(Okay, off to a good start)

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
And I Ran - Hidden in Plain View
(Hmm...not sure what to make of that one!)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Like a Boy - Ciara

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
I Write Sins Not Tragedies - PANIC! At the Disco
(That's very philosophical of me)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Uptown Girl - Billy Joel

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Here I Go Again on My Own - Whitesnake
(So, am I always alone, or do I leave my friend on their own?)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Thunder Rolls - Garth Brooks

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIENDS?
Step by Step - New Kids On the Block
(LOL)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
El Tango De Roxane - Moulon Rouge Soundtrack
(Interesting!)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S STORY?
Promiscuous Girl - Nelly Furtado f. Timbaland
(Bet you didn't know I used to turn tricks down on Liberty Ave...)

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Maneater - Nelly Furtado
(see above)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Regulators - Nate Dogg f. Warren G

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Superman - Eminem
(Well, that seems mildly inappropriate...)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Footloose - Kenny Loggins

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Burn One Down - Ben Harper
(It's referring to cigarettes, people, cigarettes...)

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Be My Little Baby - Dirty Dancing Soundtrack
(Huh?)

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
The Most Beautiful Girl - Harry Connick Jr.

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
The Greatest Love of All - Whitney Houston
(Okay, that's a sign if I've ever seen one!!)

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Say My Name - Destiny's Child

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Touch Me - The Doors

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Good Vibrations - Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch

Very random, I know...

Happy & Sad

2009-01-20T18:54:00.002-05:00

Okay, it's a random post, but....

Happy List
1. The Super Bowl!!!!!!!!!! I had a blast on Sunday at the AFC Championship game. It was so cool to see the ceremony after we won. I love the feeling of camaraderie and good will that happens in Pittsburgh when the entire city is excited. I cried the last time we won the Super Bowl...we'll see what happens this year!

2. Step/Aerobics Mix - I started taking this class at my University today b/c, let's face it, I desperately need to lose some lbs. A few of my friends are writing blogs about their weight loss journeys, and it's totally motivating me, which is great. Check them out: Mimi's World, Daily Chronicles of a Richmond Couch Potato, and Food, Sweat and Mirrors.

3. American Idol - I know, I know. I'm a sucker for reality TV, what can I say? I am one of the few people who actually hates the first few episodes, b/c I don't like watching them make fun of the poor singers. I mean, some of the people who try out that are bad genuinely think that they have talent, which leads me to believe that there is something wrong with them that they're trying out to begin with. But I get a thrill just seeing the previews. And I almost always agree with Simon.

4. Family & Friends - We had an outpouring of support at the viewing and funeral last weekend, and it was wonderful to see so many people were there for us. Knowing that we had people to turn to and to cry on really helped us get through everything.

5. White Merlot - I have been loving this wine lately. We had it on New Year's Eve, and I bought a bottle while I was at my parents' this weekend. I love it! It's made by Sutter Home and is the perfect combo - not too sweet nor too dry. I typically favor semi-dry reds, but this is a great compromise that I can share with my friends who like sweeter wines...everyone wins!

Sad List
1. Cold - Brrr. This darn weather is really grating on my nerves. School was cancelled on Friday b/c the wind chill was below zero, and it was even colder on Saturday. The only good thing is that compared to these temps, the 32 degree weather during the game on Sunday actually felt balmy. But now it's back to being in the single digits, and I cannot wait until I move south and don't have to deal with this!

2. Step/Aerobics Mix - C'mon, do you think I got to this size b/c I like exercise? I hate it! When I lived in VA Beach, my friends and I would go to Step Aerobics and I actually didn't mind most of the classes that we had. Plus we all did it together. So I'm familiar with the steps and I know I won't make too big of a fool of myself. But our first class, today, was evidently the "For Dummies" edition. She walked us through the basic steps at 1/2 time and I barely worked up a sweat. And she cut the class early. Hopefully next week we'll get up to speed and I'll feel like I was effective!

3. My Laptop - it continues to be problematic. I finally was able to copy all of my pictures from Greece onto CDs so I think I'm going to ask my roommate to wipe everything off and reload the essentials. I just want to be able to write a lesson plan without worrying that it will shut down on me in the middle of typing and stay down for an hour. Grrr.

4. Weather - I'm so miserable about this cold, it deserves two spots on this list. I keep a case of water in my car so I can just grab a bottle out of the back to add to my lunch bag when I go to school instead of hauling the case up and down the stairs. But the water is frozen. And it remained frozen through lunch. I think I got two sips...the rest was ice. So now I have to haul the water out of my car. I know, I need the exercise...

5. Drama - Two of my dad's friends got into a nasty, nasty fight at the bar after the game and are now talking divorce. And there were four of us present during the fight, who witnessed the punch and the slap...and his embarrassment....and her bitchiness...is it too much to ask that you leave your drama at home? This situation is seriously tinging my AFC win afterglow...

My Pappap

2009-01-15T15:29:00.002-05:00

My grandfather, my Pappap W, died early yesterday morning. He was 91 and had a great life. His wife of 64 years is still alive. My Aunt lives with them, and so they've been able to stay in the house they had built back when my mom was about 8 years old. The community now is thriving with young families and big box stores have popped up everywhere. But they moved there when it was primarily a farming community.

I've never lost a grandparent before. I know I'm lucky, that at 28, my first grandparent only just passed. But I can't help thinking of all of the things I put off that he won't get to witness. He won't be there when I walk down the aisle. Heck, if I get married, my future husband won't even get to meet him. If I have kids, they'll never know their great-grandfather.

My Pappap always had a military haircut, and I always loved to pet his hair. He'd always yelp and say, "Hey! You're messing up my hair! I worked hours to get it it like that!" He told silly jokes and took naps in the chair in their living room. He was always cold and wearing cardigans, even in the summer.

When I was little, my sister and I would spend a week with my grandparents. We would go to McDonald's, create a restaurant in their kitchen, and make "Ladies" and "Mens" signs for their bathrooms. My Pappap never minded forking over ten cents for the sandwich he made himself. When we went to the North Park pool, he never went in the water, just sat next to the pool in a lawn chair, growing ever darker, and telling us he'd get in when the water wasn't wet. We always giggled and tried to explain that was impossible, but he never budged.

Pappap loved coffee and hot tea. He loved to eat raw onions with his sandwiches. He was on oxygen for the past four years or so, owing to his emphysema. But to this day, every time I smell a pipe, I think of the ones he gave up when I was young.

I can't picture their house without him there. I can't imagine holidays without his presence. I will be thinking of him on that distant day if I ever walk down the aisle. I love you Pappap. Rest in peace.

Numero Uno

2009-01-13T22:19:00.002-05:00

So, today I conducted my first lesson. All by myself. For 7th graders (as opposed to my classmates). And I survived! Yay!

I was nervous all morning, knowing that I would have to do it. But my CT taught the lesson to our other class yesterday, so I knew I was just doing the exact same thing she had already done. Plus, my CT was super supportive, telling me to just concentrate on the academics and she would handle any behavior issues.

So I took a deep breath and...just did it. And it went well! We moved one rather boisterous student to the front row, and he turned out to be the most eager participant. My CT hasn't actually done a whole lot of discussion in the classes, so I was afraid I would have to pry responses out of the students.

We have this super cool tool in our classroom called an ELMO. It's an advanced overhead projector, that rather than just projecting the transparencies will project anything, including a text book or novel. So I prepared the questions ahead of time, and was able to fill in the answers on lined paper as we came up with answers as a class. And I could put the novel there to show students what page or paragraph we were referring to if they couldn't find it.

All in all, it was a great way to start. Our other class had terrible behavior on Friday and Monday, so I'm glad I had the "easier" group of students to help ease me in. And I probably won't be totally alone until next week at the earliest, which is great.

One of my classmates is telling me about how her CT is heaping all of her work on my classmate, and I feel so bad for her, since my experience so far has been great.

I have so much more to share but no time to do it at the moment. My computer isn't dead yet, so hopefully I'll be able to update all of you more often and get back to reading your blogs - you have no idea how much I miss them! I confess that I tried to access a blog from school and it was blocked. Oops! But hopefully I'll have more time later this week. Thanks to all of you for hanging in there and being so supportive!!!

Quick Update

2009-01-07T18:06:00.001-05:00

Okay, I just want to tell all of my followers and all of those that I follow - I am reading all of your posts, I promise! I have not had time to finish my catching up yet (good Lord, has it only been a week??) but I will do so. Life is just crazy right now. Love me anyway :)

First Impressions

2009-01-07T16:44:00.002-05:00

So I started my student teaching assignment on Monday. Not sitting at a computer daily is definitely going to affect my blogging time, so be forewarned!

Day 1
On Monday, I was a little nervous about starting student teaching. I had a bad cold all weekend, and my sleep schedule was completely off, so I didn't get a ton of sleep the night before. Fortunately, my cooperating teacher had called me on Sunday to remind me where to park and what to do when I arrived.

I found the school with no problem and arrived early. My cooperating teacher (CT) was already in the room, and she gave me a place to put my stuff and we went to a meeting. Our schedule is as follows (7 periods total): Periods 1 & 2 - prep, Period 3 - cover 8th grade lunch, Periods 4 & 5 - 7th grade class, Periods 6 & & - 7th grade class. So we have two classes for two blocked classes.

My CT introduced me to tons of faculty and staff, and everyone was very friendly, although I know I'll have trouble remembering names. There are 4 7th grade classes and the curriculum is very strict - we're all teaching the same thing and there's not a lot of wiggle room in the lesson plans. This is my biggest concern so far...when I start to write the lesson plans, I am worried I'm not going to have a lot of input, and that not having that input will lessen my experience. The good thing is that there are 3 other teachers we can work with to discuss the curriculum and determine what has been successful and what doesn't work.

My CT did not introduce me to the kids on Day 1. She wanted me to just observe and for them to ignore my presence in the classroom (which they did). I was nervous about major behavior issues, especially b/c she had warned me that her second class was a little rowdy. But they just took a little longer to settle down, and the only issues were really with kids talking during class. I can so handle that!!

So Day 1 went well. I definitely took a lot in!

Day 2
Yesterday I did more or less the same as the previous day - just watched. We had to cover a class during 2nd period b/c the regular teacher was absent, but my CT was very lax with the kids - just handed out a worksheet and let them work together.

During our lunch coverage, a fist fight broke out between two students, which was mildly traumatizing for me. Violence scares the crap out of me - I don't know that I could ever jump in and break up something like that. Plus, it was between a boy and a girl, and the boy punched the girl in the face. And I mean punched - I could hear it from where I was standing. But my CT and the security guard who is always there during lunch were great. They reacted quickly, separated the fighters, and took them to the office.

On Day 2, my CT introduced me to the class and said that we would be team teaching for the rest of the semester. She didn't identify me as a "student teacher" just in case the title had a negative connotation for the kids. She also put the students into alphabetical order so I could start to learn their names. I have about 50 kids total, which really isn't too bad. And some names I already knew (the ones that were corrected frequently the day prior).

I handed out index cards to the students and had them write down two things: something they wanted me to know about them, and what their favorite thing has been that they've done in class so far this year. Of course some kids said that they hadn't liked anything yet, but most of them picked good things. One kid wrote that he wanted me to know that he was good looking. Lord!!! I wanted to thank him for writing it down, since I wouldn't have been able to tell otherwise.

This was a great intro for me b/c it allows the class to slowly get used to my presence and gives me the opportunity to help my CT with behavior corrections, if they're doing something and she doesn't see it. Some of the kids want to call me Ms. C, instead of my last name - that's funny to me. It's so weird to be addressed by my last name!

Day 3
Today was another good day. I spend the first two periods observing other classes, which is a requirement for student teaching but is something I would probably want to do anyway. I saw my last period class in their first period, which is science. And then I saw a combined group in Spanish during second period. The Spanish teacher I observed is very young, and he told me that it would be a great class to see for behavior. I totally stereotyped and was afraid the kids would be OOC for him, but he was great. He spoke very authoritatively and was completely able to control the students.

Our first class was very well-behaved today. My CT gave them an activity where they were working independently, and they just got right too it. That was encouraging for me to see. The second class of course was not so focused, but they were okay. The more I watch, the more ideas I get about what I can do with them. I just worry that the curriculum will restrict me too much. So we'll see!

Overall, I'm pleased with my placement so far. Everyone I've met has been wonderful and has offered to help in any way they can. They're so excited to have student teachers (there are two Art student teachers from my university as well). This just reinforces to me how crappy our student teacher "placer" is at my school - she could have easily been placing student teachers here every semester and they would be thrilled to have them. The science teacher I observed this morning told me she has actually asked for them in the past, but has never had one.

Holiday Highlights

2008-12-26T09:22:00.005-05:00

For the past two and a half days, I was overwhelmed with family and Christmas, but definitely in a good way. I look forward to Christmas every year, and always try to yell "Stop!!" as it flies right by me, but I had a fantastic few days.

Some highlights:

1.) Aiden, my cousin Missie's 6 year old, telling our cousin Ben (18) that he was a boy on the outside but a girl on the inside. LOL. Last year at Thanksgiving he called Ben a girl b/c he had long hair.

2.) While I was drying my hair the following morning, my cousin Missie's boyfriend reached his arm around me and in his hand was a beautiful ring - he was proposing to her that night. We all adore Jason and are so happy to "officially" welcome him to the family!

3.) Since it was too warm and rainy to ice skate (again!!), we had breakfast at Pamela's, a great diner. They have old pictures all over the walls of Pittsburghers doing various things - grinning, playing baseball, etc. All candids. I took pictures of most of my cousins next to some funny pics and wound up with great results: Ben grinning next to a freckled, youngster showing off missing teeth, Amy imitating a Betty Boop pose next to the pinup cartoon. I promise to share these with you as soon as I have time to upload the pics!

4.) Mass...I don't attend church regularly, but when I do go I always have a strong sense of nostalgia. I attended Catholic schools my entire life, so we went to mass a lot during school. Every time I return, it's like old home week, knowing the songs and mouthing the prayers along with the priest.

5.) The little girl in front of me playing with her hair, and then comparing her hair with her aunt's. She would stretch out a strand of her own, bring it close to her aunt's hair and wrap the two pieces together. Adorable.

6.) Reliving memories from when we went to Vegas in May with my cousin and our family in my Grandparents' basement while drinking homemade Bailey's. My cousin Erin turned 21 a few short weeks before we went out west and one night was particularly memorable.

7.) My Grandma showing everyone a picture of one of the doctors she used to work with, and his family. She pointed out all of the kids and then pointed to the youngest child: "That one was a mistake, she just came along after all the others." I was crying, I was laughing so hard.

8.) My crazy aunt Nancy buying all of the girls ridiculous one-piece pajamas. They're all maroon, long-sleeved, and shorts instead of pants. Hard to describe, but hilarious.

9.) Teasing Jason for having Missie in his phone as "Baby Girl." I kept harassing him, asking him if he proposed to her as Baby Girl.

10.) Being with my parents and sister on Christmas morning. My parents went all out and got us big gifts this year, which they never do. I got a Bose iPod sound dock!!

11.) Watching my mom open her gift from my sister and me. We got her a mother's necklace with our birthstones in it (aquamarine for Mary Beth and peridot for me). And then watching her show off her new necklace to everyone later that night!

12.) Watching Mamma Mia! with my mom and sister Christmas afternoon.

13.) Playing Mario Kart on my sister's Wii that she received from my parents. And I'm an idiot - when she opened it, I thought my parents just got her a game. I didn't realize until well into the afternoon that they actually bought her the console. Duh!

14.) Seeing the family on my mom's side. My cousin Luke was there first with his twin daughters, Morgan and Lidia. They were the entertainment all night.

15.) Having a braunschweiger sandwich for Christmas dinner. I used to love this meat but haven't had it in years. Yum!!

16.) Watching Morgan & Lidia eat cupcakes with bright green frosting, turning their tongues, teeth, fingers, and everything they touched green.

17.) Seeing the gift that I bought for our exchange be stolen repeatedly! Everyone buys a $15 gift and we pull cards. The first person picks a gift and unwraps it; the next person can unwrap a new gift or steal the gift that the first person already opened, and so on. I bought a picture frame that has "Family Ties" written on the bottom and four or five spots for pictures. It's pretty big. My sister finally wound up with it.

All in all, I had a great Christmas. Tonight is the party with my friends, and we do a gift exchange like the one my family did last night. Tomorrow is another party, and Sunday is the last regular Steelers home game! So it will be a busy weekend, as usual.

The Time Has Arrived

2008-12-23T15:27:00.003-05:00

Tonight, my Christmas celebrations begin and I can't wait! My cousins and I are spending the night together and also picking up one of us from the airport (keep your fingers crossed that she is not one of the many people who is delayed!), then tomorrow we will ice skate. Tomorrow we will be with family all evening, and then Wednesday is the actual day.

I can't wait to see everyone open the gifts I got for them and I hope everyone likes what they receive.

I'm so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends, and my newly expanded blogger friends. I am definitely thankful for all that I have and I hope that all of you have fantastic holidays as well.

So stay safe and have wonderful celebrations with your family and friends.

Caitlyn - I love you, and we will miss you so much, but you know that we will call and harass you enough that you'll be wanting to be left in peace. Have a great first Christmas with Taylor and know that we're thinking of you all night and all day!!

Airport Musings

2008-12-19T11:19:00.006-05:00

Observations from my recent aeropuerto adventures....

Why do they still sell pleated jeans? They're not cute on anyone. Yet, I saw a fatherly gentleman sporting them proudly, with a tucked-in turtleneck almost the same color as the wash of the jeans. The pleats were displayed to their full advantage. It wasn't okay. It still isn't. If stores would just come to a consensus and manufacturers wouldn't make them anymore, it would save so many people from making such an obvious fashion error.

I watched a pair of college-aged lesbians for awhile, as they were sitting right in front of me. One spoke loudly on her cell phone about how some of her friends were hooking up, and needless to say, it caught my attention (and the attention of most surrounding gates). And, when did "college-aged" get so young?

Anyway, these girls were still in the stage where they were trying to shock all of us old fogies at the gate, and made a point of liplocking every time one of them went to the bathroom or had to get some food. It just made me laugh. Also, it was clear that one of them was more masculine than the other...but someone should tell her that to be truly effective, she should stop wearing jeans made for girls.

I think that stores need to be banned from airports. Every time I fly somewhere, I'm compelled to stop at Nine West and buy shoes. This day was no exception - not only did I buy them, but I immediately went to the bathroom and put them on. I love them! But they eventually started to pinch my toes - I think Nine West has changed their sizes. I'm normally a solid 8 1/2, but when I've tried them on lately, they've been too wide so I've opted for the 8...and then they pinch my toes after awhile.

Speaking of shoes, boots. The boot trend has been around for a year or two now, and every other female that I saw at the airport sported pants or jeans tucked into their boots. I'm not anti this trend, but it's not okay that every woman under the sun thinks she can pull it off. So many women seemed to think that they were being fashion forward and so thought they could get away with a clever combo of boots and pants - not so much.

Women should be required to take a test before purchasing boots, especially boots with the fur. Anyone over the age of 35 should be automatically eliminated (maybe younger than that). Even fur trim should be severely restricted. If a woman does not pass the test, she should be required to take lessons on the best type of pants to tuck into boots and locations where this look is appropriate.

(For anyone wondering...I have never, myself, tucked my jeans into my boots. I don't think I can pull it off. I think it looks terrific when it's done correctly, but the plethora of examples available at the Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Indianapolis airports reinforced my thought that only certain people can make it look good.)

I suppose my people-watching and fascination truly translates into criticisms of what everyone else is wearing. LOL. Hey, I was entertained!

To Save My E-mail Friends Again...

2008-12-16T11:00:00.004-05:00

The bold ones are things I've done....

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band - okay, I was the alto recorder in high school but it still counts!
4. Visited Hawaii - darn, broke my streak
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland - that will hopefully change this summer! And I have been to Disney World, so I'm giving myself half points (hence the italics)
8. Climbed a mountain - my friend Laurel and I felt like it was a mountain in Edinburgh, Scotland, but the locals called it a hill
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo - we did Annie for my first grade play and I was absent the day they cast the roles...I was always convinced that, had I been there, I would have had the lead, instead of stupid "Narrator 3"
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train - and after seeing Carrie & Samantha's adventures on Sex in the City, not sure I ever want to!
21. Had a pillow fight - of course I have, I went to sleepovers when I was little!
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill - how do you think I was able to interview for jobs in Pittsburgh? Not that it helped...I still moved home unemployed
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held an alligator
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon - and I don't see this one ever being bolded...
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice - I've ridden one at the Venetian...definitely counts for half!
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset - I should get double, I've watched both (really, who hasn't??)
31. Hit a home run - Yay, Sarah Heinz House kickball!
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person - someday I will blog about how we used to drive up there and drink when I was 19...love that the drinking age is lower in Canadia!
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors - we will be going to Ireland in 3 years!
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language - definitely counting my Pig Latin expertise and my slight Spanish knowledge
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke - again, who hasn't?
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance - hope this one's never bolded!
47. Had your portrait painted - my mom's friend painted one of all of my grandparents' grandkids for their 50th anniversary present
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person - definitely half points; we were outside of it and they closed it before we could get in line....not sure why....
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling - in Cancun and Key West
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie - home movies definitely count!
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies - no. The city of Pittsburgh has Camp Fire Girls, not Girl Scouts. And I wasn't allowed to join.
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving - definitely on my To Do!
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check - grrr
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Been to Canada - oh those crazy days in college...
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job - never want this one bolded, either!
76. Seen the changing of the guards in London
77. Broken a bone - pretty sure I had something broken in my foot the last time I was a klutz, but I never got an x-ray
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle - I should get double points - I was drunk!!
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person - we flew over it, that totally counts!
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Seen Bon Jovi in concert - we saw NKOTB, that totally counts for half!
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read Gone With The Wind
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - ewww
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous - Kirk Cameron was in a wedding that I served when I was in high school. How jealous are you??
92. Joined a book club - didn't last very long...
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit - my sister and I got rear ended and we won some cash
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own

Okay, I have some things to catch up on...43 bolded and 7 halfsies.

Mixed Emotions

2008-12-16T08:52:00.004-05:00

So, my days at my current job are winding to an end. It hasn't completely hit me yet that I have two short weeks left, so I'm always mildly shocked when someone brings it up.

This is bad for two reasons: 1 - since I'm not mentally prepared to leave, I'm also not mentally prepared to student teach...and I'm going to need all the help I can get!
2 - when it does hit me, it's going to be much more emotional than I'm okay with. I'm not a crier in general, and I really don't like to do it in front of people...I'm afraid that I'll be a mess whenever the "going away" things culminate.

One of the best and worst things about leaving is that you discover how valued people really think that you are. It's great b/c I feel like I truly am a respected member of our HR team, and people have been slowly and steadily coming out of the woodwork to reinforce that. It's bad because I feel as though I have under appreciated my colleagues.

I have only good memories of when I left my last position. I lived and worked in the Virginia Beach area, and I worked in a company's distribution center as the Assistant HR Manager for about a year and a half before my position was eliminated and I was moved to the corporate office. I was lucky enough that they had a position to move me into, but it was a job that a smart monkey could have performed. I only lasted six months before I moved back to Pittsburgh.

Yet, in those short six months, I made inroads into my new co-workers. I joined a group of ladies who walked around the parking lot twice a day, I chatted with the employees in Benefits who sat by my cubicle, and I became friends with the receptionist who worked for the CPO (that's Chief People Officer - no, I'd never heard of it before either). All of this resulted in a surprisingly touching response when they found out I was leaving. Cards, tokens, a happy hour...I was really shocked at how everyone reacted, and I know how heartfelt it was.

Since then, I have occasionally gone back and read those cards whenever I'm down in the dumps. I have a picture of my closest corporate friend and me in my room at home, and I stay in touch (okay, sporadically - I'm so bad at that!) with my boss from the distribution center.

So it's beginning to be time to gather the newest additions to my collection. It may seem silly, but I really appreciate every small thing that people have been saying to me. I got a random e-mail this morning (in response to a sassy remark I made about how she's not going to have to nag me anymore) from someone in my department who told me what a joy it was to work with me.

I can also see my co-workers sneaking around, blatantly hiding things from me. That sounds like a contradiction, but it's not - they'll ask me to leave the room and then I hear peals of laughter coming from behind the closed door...

I just need to remember to gather these comments and keep them with me, so that I can examine them whenever I'm feeling discouraged in a new job or down about changing careers.

At Last...

2008-12-12T11:28:00.002-05:00

I have my student teaching placement!! I will be at a middle school w/in Pittsburgh Public, and I will be teaching 7th grade Reading and Language Arts. It's so real to me now that I'm starting to get super nervous...

There are so many requirements for a student teacher that I'm glad I never followed through and got a part-time job. It looks like I'll be doing prep work every minute that I'm not in school and I'm a little intimidated by that. I really hope that my cooperating teacher is wonderful. I think I'll need all of the support I can get.

And, I have a dilemma. During our first student teacher seminar, my professor made a point of saying that we had to make sure that we didn't have any crazy "websites" like Facebook or MySpace. I, of course, have both. But I don't think I have anything outrageous posted on either, and both are set to private. Not to mention that I have this blog. But I don't think that anything on the blog account has my full name, and I have tried to keep most things fairly anonymous, so I think as long as I don't mention any students or teachers by name I'll be safe.

What do you think? Do you think I should delete my Facebook & MySpace pages? What about my blog?

I would hate to do it but I don't want to have anything tarnish my reputation this early in the game...

Christmas!!!!! Part II

2008-12-09T14:18:00.009-05:00

Okay, so in an effort to cheer myself up and stop obsessing over my lack of a student teaching placement, I decided to move forward with the Christmas post I've been promising!

Christmas is my favorite holiday, and there are many, many reasons why. Here are just a few...

1. Candy Canes - I love them! All that pepperminty goodness, curved into the fun shape of a cane. Although that darn bend does make it harder to enjoy that part, the rest of it is fabulous. When I was little, I only liked the multi-colored ones that tasted like cherry, but now I only like the traditional peppermint ones.

2. Peppermint Mocha - I've already mentioned my love of this frothy beverage from Starbucks, but it can never be discussed too frequently, as far as I'm concerned. Love it w/soy milk, and have recently converted a co-worker to my drink of choice.

3. Christmas Trees - I love a beautifully decorated tree. I don't care what color or kind of decorations are on them, I adore them all. And the smell!!! I so wish I lived in a place where it was feasible to have a real one...maybe I can have one whereever I wind up living next year.

4. Shopping - Finding the perfect gift is awesome. I wish I could say that I always find the perfect gifts for everyone every year, but I definitely am not that creative. But I just love being able to go to the mall or to the store and spend. I can always justify it b/c it's the one time of the year that I'm not cheap and I don't feel guilty for spending money. Better yet, it's spent on other people!!

5. Christmas Music - Again, I know I've talked about this in the past, but I just love it. I have a huge playlist on my iPod, tons of CDs, and a playlist on my work computer that drives my co-workers crazy. I love the 98 Degrees CD, and I also love the funny songs from South Park.

6. Snow - Christmas is the one time of the year that it's okay for it to snow. My usual theory about snow is that if it's going to be that cold outside, it may as well snow. But Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are the only two days of the year that snow is welcome in all of its white, fluffy glory.

7. Christmas Parties - I love having the opportunity to see everyone dressed up in their winter best. There's always such a great mood at holiday parties, and everyone is cheerful. I have two to attend this weekend, and I can't wait!

8. Holiday Spirit - I really think everyone is happier and more giving at this time of the year than at any other time. It's tough to be annoyed by a crowded store when there's a Salvation Army bell-ringer shivering outside. The sound of that bell just reminds you of Christmas, and reminds you to be generous. We need something like this for the summer months...

9. Decorations - Nothing makes me happier than to come in to the cafeteria and to see it transformed into a Christmas wonderland. I love seeing the stores in all of their finery, and especially the windows downtown at Kaufmann's (okay, it's Macy's now. Sheesh).

10. Family Traditions - I saved this for last b/c it's nearest and dearest to my heart. The holidays are a time for family, and I love being with them. Christmas Eve is my absolute favorite day of the year. My cousins on my dad's side (including Caitlyn) are all very close, and we started ice skating during the day at the rink at PPG Place downtown. We go and get some Starbucks, wait in line, and ice skate in a beautiful location.

We have deviated from this tradition a few times (last year it was too rainy to ice skate, the year before there was a Steelers home game on Christmas Eve) but we always spend the time together, which is the most important part.

(Okay, this pic is obviously a few years old)

In the evening, my parents' best friends and their kids always come over to my parents' house before mass, and we visit with them and then we all walk up to church and go to mass. Afterwards, we pile into the car and head to my Grandparents' house. Their house is wonderful. There's always a roaring fire, homemade Bailey's, all of relatives from that side of the family, lots of food, and laughter. My cousins and I (same ones from the morning) always sit in the living room and sing Christmas carols. After dinner, we nag the "adults" to come upstairs so that we can open gifts.

Then the flurry begins. The youngest cousins pass out the gifts, and my Grandma always tries to make people open one at a time so that everyone can see what everyone else received. This never lasts very long - soon there's wrapping paper everywhere and "thank you's" being shouted over the noise.

The last tradition is pajamas. My Grandma buys all of the cousins PJs every year. And every year we immediately put them on after the gifts are opened and then wear them home. Keep in mind our ages range from 6 - 38. And it never fails. We tell her annually that she always has to get us PJs.

Christmas Day is always wonderful, too. I stay at my parents' house and open gifts with them and my sister in the morning. We gorge ourselves on a big breakfast. The afternoon/evening is reserved for my mom's side of the family. We go to someone's house and we get to see all of my relatives on that side. A lot of my cousins on that side live out of state, but there's usually someone home for the holidays, and it's always great to catch up.

We also do a grab bag on this side of the family - everyone buys something and then we draw cards to determine the order of who opens when. You can open a new gift or steal someone else's (everyone calls this something different). There's usually one gift every year that moves through the ranks, and it's hilarious.

Mission accomplished - I'm in a much better mood now!! I love the holidays :)

Irritated...

2008-12-09T08:59:00.002-05:00

Well, last night I had my last class for my last "real" grad school course. I turned in my portfolio and all is done. Tonight, I have my first Student Teaching Seminar. Not sure what I'm going to do, since I STILL have not received my student teaching assignment.

The longer this goes on, the more irritated I get about the whole situation. It's making me hate my choice to attend this school, and that's terrible. I am so frustrated with the entire department - no one will return my calls. My advisor was unsympathetic, saying that my classmate who already has her assignment just got hers early. Okay, I'll buy that for a week or two - but it's been almost a month, and my mailbox remains empty.

This program is really geared towards people in my exact situation - someone who has a Bachelor's degree in a subject who wants to get a teaching certificate and earn a Masters. It's for people who already have a first career and are working; that's why all the courses are at night and we don't have any actual time in a secondary classroom, b/c it's understood that we have jobs during the day during the week.

So why would you make someone wait so incredibly long to let them know where they will be spending the next four weeks of their life? Another classmate also hasn't received her placement, and she has to give notice to her employer. As someone in HR, that's not something to be taken lightly. Obviously, my situation is a little bit different, but I haven't talked to my boss about when my last day will be since I have NO IDEA when I will be starting my assignment. I know, vaguely, that it will be after the new year, but that's just not good enough. Every time I think about it, it makes me angrier and angrier. If I didn't respond to someone or allowed this to happen, my job would be in jeopardy. It's unacceptable that it's just "the way things are" at my university. If it's a problem with Pittsburgh Public Schools - then don't send student teachers there anymore!! We are lucky enough to have numerous school districts surrounding the city, so why depend on one entity. I had to turn in my paperwork in APRIL - yeah, six months ago - and I haven't heard a peep.

ARGH.

Okay, I'm done. And I feel better now - I swear!

Okay, one more thing - my co-workers are making me sad :( I don't know why, but today my boss just kept looking at me with a sad, puppy dog face. I asked him what was wrong and he told me that it's hitting him that I'm leaving soon and he's really going to miss me. My counterpart won't let anyone talk about it b/c she's an emotional person and will just start crying. I keep telling them they may wind up stuck with me until June since I still don't know where the heck I'm going to be, but they're not buying it. Although they have said that they are going to call my school and tell them to keep my paperwork lost....hmmm....

Anyway, how 'bout them Stillers?? What a game, eh? I'm still hoarse from screaming on Sunday and I was still cold all day yesterday. That wind was not fun. Even my beer coat didn't protect me from that.

It's been so cold in Pittsburgh lately that I stepped outside today and thought it was positively balmy. "Wow," I thought, "I guess the temps did get up into the 50s like the weather chick said."

I got in my car, started my engine, and looked at my temp readout - 33 degrees. What?!? Okay, this provides yet another reason for me to move south - 33 degrees is not warm! It's not balmy! And it's definitely not okay that I thought that this morning!! LOL.

I need to get back into Christmas mode. I haven't finished decorating my apartment and I need to get my cards together. I haven't sent out Christmas cards since I moved back to Pittsburgh (not sure why, too lazy and cheap, I guess) but I've already bought them and I need to make it happen. I keep getting mail asking for donations for various organizations. I hate receiving them. I always feel guilty b/c I rarely donate, and this year I have to be even more careful with my money since I will be unemployed soon. At the same time, I don't really have the opportunity to donate my time since I'm still so busy with work. I'll have to figure something out.

'Nother....

2008-12-05T09:21:00.000-05:00

Again, thanks to Shades...she is saving all of my friends from the e-mails they normally get whenever one of these is passed around!!

1) How do you like your grilled cheese?
With more than one type of cheese (preferably pepperjack and provolone) and tomatoes. Sometimes bacon, too.

2) Where did you go on your last vacation?
Key West, FL

3) Who are your godparents?
Um, I think my Uncle Rich (dad's brother) and Aunt Nancy (dad's sister)

4) Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Teaching somewhere, possibly getting ready to move back to Pittsburgh or loving my life so much in my new locale that I never want to leave. I can also see myself teaching abroad.

5) Where are you at noon everyday?
I am never in the same place at noon every day. If it's a "normal" work day, I'm probably either in the cafeteria or already eating in our conference room. If I'm at a job fair - I'm at a job fair. I may also be in the car. On weekends, I could be anywhere - tailgating, reading in my bed, shopping...you name it!

6) How many speeding tickets have you gotten?
Hmm...4?

7) When was the last time you swam?
Probably on a day we went on the boat....

8) What do you order at Subway?
Roast beef w/pepper jack cheese, toasted, w/pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and southwest sauce.

9) Do you keep your closets organized?
Absolutely not. My friend is dying to come over and organize mine - and I want to let her, but I need to pre-clean before that happens!

10) How do you make headaches go away?
Keep popping ibuprofen. When I get headaches, they normally last a week or more, and ibuprofen is the only thing that works on them, so I just keep taking them until it's finally gone.

11) Have you owned a beta before?
Yes. At my college, only freshmen live in dorms, after that you live in on-campus apartments and then townhouses. So my three roommates and I were so excited to have an apartment that we went to Wal-Mart and each bought a beta. I can't remember what we named them. But most of them were dead within a month. That first flushing was tough!! Eventually, all went to the great septic system in the sky. Then, our junior year, one of our friends gave us a plant with a beta in it (remember when that was the really popular gift??). Our neighbors got one too, and it was right after the South Park movie had come out, so we named one "clit" and the other one "orus." LOL. Bet that was way more than you thought you'd get from a question about beta, huh?

12) If you moved out of state where would you go?
What a relevant question to my life!! I would like to move south - South Carolina, Georgia, maybe Florida or New Orleans.

13) Did you attend pre school?
No.

14) What do your shower curtains look like?
Different shades of gray with squares, I think. I don't really pay attention to it!

15) Did you have an imaginary friend as a child?
Not unless the New Kids on the Block count...I was convinced they'd come perform for me any day...

16) How do you make eggs?
Overeasy.

17) Where do you wash your clothes?
In the washer.

18) Who are the neighbors who live to the right of you?
Joe, our landlord (if you're facing the back. No one lives on the right if you're facing the front).

19) What are your thoughts on Tom Cruise?
He's a whack-a-do.

20) What is the next vehicle you wish to buy?
Hmm...either a Pontiac G6 or a Saturn Vue....or a Nissan Rogue.

21) Do you pay bills online or by mail?
All online except for the gas bill - there's a charge to pay online, so I mail that one.

22) What would be the best gift someone could get you right now?
My student teaching assignment.

23) What is something stressful you will deal with next week?
Going to Indianapolis to observe a school for my thesis. Also turning in my portfolio project for my current class.

24) What is something in your home that you collect?
Books, Steelers stuff.

25) What did you do last night?
Had a meeting at a restaurant in the South Side, did a wee bit of shopping (there's a new Nine West store there!), went home to take a quick nap before going to see Frost Nixon downtown...and didn't wake up until my roommate got home until after 9. Oops!! Guess I was sleepier than I thought....I didn't really want to see the play, anyway (it came in the 6 pack we got for the Pittsburgh Broadway series).

26) Who did you last see?
My co-worker.

27) How do you take your coffee?
Splenda and creamer, preferably flavored.

28) What is the oldest thing in your fridge?
Who knows? Probably condiments...it would be worse but my roommate cleans it out :)

29) On your keyboard what key is wearing out from pressing it so much?
S, N

30) Where do you put your keys when you come home?
On the counter or in my purse.

31) Where do you go for Thanksgiving?
Either my aunt's or my parents'. This year it was at my aunt's.

32) How old will you be in 2010?
30 (eek!).

33) What actor or actress would play you in a movie?
I have no idea...

34) How much cash is in your wallet?
A few singles...

35) Would you have a one night stand with your favorite movie star?
I probably wouldn't be able to handle it...I'd get flustered just talking to him.

36) What color is your phone?
Navy blue-ish.

37) If you were starving to death would you eat a pet?
No.

38) Ever been to Alabama?
No.

39) What kind of accent do you have?
NOT a Pittsburghese one, although I use many Pittsburghese words. I'd say just a Yankee accent.

40) What kind of alcoholic drinks are in your fridge right now?
In my fridge? Maybe a beer or two. Most of my alcohol is behind the bar.

Exciting News!

2008-12-03T09:33:00.003-05:00

No, I didn't receive my student teaching assignment yet.

But - I did get a summer job! I applied online over a month ago for this program called SD. It's for academically-inclined high school students who take advanced courses over the summer at various college campuses around the country. They have a variety of programs and courses, and the duration is either 4 or 6 weeks.

I got a job as a Residence Counselor, so I'm basically going to be an RA on one of the campuses. The pay isn't fantastic, but the position includes all room and board, travel expenses to and from the campus, and entrance into any events I have to take the kids to. That could include museums, theme parks, concerts, movies, etc.

So where am I going to be? I told the person who interviewed me that I wasn't really particlar (after she said there were no openings in the International program), but that I'd love to go to California since I've never been. She told me that she had a stricter budget than usual due to the economy, but she'd see what she could do. She spoke with the director and e-mailed me that the director would love to have me at (drumroll, please...) UC Santa Barbara!!

It's a six week program, so I expect to be gone about 8 weeks (mid-June through mid-August). How cool is that??? I'm so excited! California, here I come!

Please, Please, Please...

2008-11-28T17:04:00.002-05:00

...finish Midnight Sun!!! I spent the entire afternoon reading it and I'm dying for more. That burning Edward feels for Bella? Well, that's inside me now, as I long for the rest of the book. More than the rest of the book, I want an Edward version to accompany each of the rest of the Twilight series books.

So, I'm begging: Stephanie Meyer, please at least finish Midnight Sun. The rest of the book is priceless to your Twilight fans, and we yearn for the conclusion.

And if you can bear it...to write the rest...well, we'd be immeasurably grateful for that, too.

Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-11-28T08:49:00.007-05:00

A big thanks to Shades, for positing this survey and jump-starting my love of Christmas!!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?

Wrapping paper - this is pretty much the only time of year that I actually wrap gifts, I normally just go to Dollar Tree and buy cheapie gift bags (or recycle them).

2. Real tree or Fake

Well...real. But I have a fake one. I know, it doesn't make sense. Here's the issue. I live in a large, loft-like apartment with very high ceilings. The first year I lived here, I made my roommate go with me and bought a huge, beautiful tree. It was $80. But it was such a pain in the butt to drag up the stairs to the apartment, then to take down and deposit in the dumpster that it was not worth that much money. So last year, my boss sold me his 7 foot pre-lit Christmas tree for a bargain price. Which means I'll be putting it up again this year, to save myself some hassle. But my parents always have and always will get a real tree, and when I live somewhere that's more tree-friendly, I will go back to buying real. Not sure what I'll do with the fake one then...

3. When do you put up the tree?

Whenever I feel like it. I might put it up tonight after work or tomorrow, but it will probably be this weekend, just because I have time for once.

4. When do you take the tree down?

Whenever I feel like it, or when my roommate gets sick of looking at it!

5. Do you like eggnog?

No, yuck!

6. Favorite gift received as a child?

Hmmm...I remember being thrilled when I got my own desk, and also when my sister and I both got Dukes of Hazzard matchbox cars.

7. Hardest person to buy for?

Definitely my dad. He never wants anything. Anything he ever buys for himself he gets impulsively and there is never a pattern to what he does and doesn't like. So every year, we try hard and it's truly hit or miss. He also hates us spending money on him, so half the time he'll yell at us for buying him something. Right, like we're not going to buy you a Christmas present!! I already got half of his present and know what else I'm going to get for him, so I'll keep my fingers crossed!

8. Easiest person to buy for?

Every year, I have one, great, inspired gift idea for someone (I'm not terribly creative, so it's usually only for one person). That gift is always the best one to give. This year it's the grab bag gift I'm giving for our "friends" exchange. I love my idea! I can't tell you what it is b/c I think some people stalk this blog but don't comment (grrrrr)....

9. Do you have a nativity scene?

Um, I think I bought a cheapie one for the first Christmas I lived in VA Beach, and I'm pretty sure I still have it. But I definitely need to get a better one.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?

Mail - but honestly, I always forget to send them until too late, so I haven't sent any in the past few years, which is terrible. I definitely need to get back into it.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?

Last year we did a "funny" gift exchange at work (the White Elephant thing) where everyone brought something from home that they didn't want. My gift was an Eggstracter and a Hand Lotion Dispenser that kept the lotion warm. While funny, both were useless. However, my assistant loved them and took both home with her....LOL.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?

Hands down, it's Santa Claus, The Movie - not The Santa Clause with Tim Allen. My sister and I both love this movie, but most people have never heard of it or seen it.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?

It changes every year. Usually not until after Halloween, just b/c I can't get my butt in gear or I don't start thinking about it until then.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?

Umm...maybe for last year's work thing? I can't even remember what I gave, so I just don't know...

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?

Starbucks Peppermint Mocha - I know you drink that, but that's what I look forward to every year.

16. Lights on the tree?

Yes please!! My tree is pre-lit with white lights, but I also love the colored ones. I'm not really particular about what kind, but there have to be some!

17. Favorite Christmas song?

Very tough...my favorite Christmas CD is 98 Degrees, This Christmas (sad, I know). But my favorite song is probably Silent Night.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?

Christmas = Pittsburgh, period. I live here now, so I don't have to travel, except to relatives' homes. When I lived out of state and when I move again, I know I'll be coming home for Christmas Eve and Day, at the very least.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?

Do you really think a girl who loves Christmas as much as I do would say no????

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?

Doesn't really matter to me...I'm not partial to either....just has to be something up there!

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?

Christmas Eve we spend with my dad's side of the family, so we exchange presents and open them then. But the main, immediate family gifts are done Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?

The crowds at the stores and malls. I HATE them.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?

My favorite ornament is a ceramic baby angel with my name on it. I think my Aunt Nancy made it for me when I was born, and I love it. I don't really have a favorite "theme" but I like to look at trees that have been decorated in a particular way.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?

Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing...basically, Thanksgiving dinner. We always have ham on Christmas Eve and if Christmas day is at my parents' house, we always have turkey. Love it.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?

Everything I ever feel I have to have, I usually wind buying b/c I'm too impatient to wait for it. So there's nothing I really need...but a few things I wouldn't mind having. I gave my sister the run down.

26. Favorite thing about Christmas?

Being with family. Christmas Eve is my favorite day of the entire year!

A Few Things

2008-11-26T08:52:00.005-05:00

First, I just have to say how wonderful it's been to go over every detail of Twilight with all of my blog friends!!! Besides the two people I saw the movie with, none of my other friends or family have read the books or seen the movie (yet), so I've been getting my kicks out of this blog. And even though I didn't love the movie, I have LOVED reading everyone else's thoughts about it!

Next, my little cousin, Caitlyn, recently started her own blog: Living Love. I thought I'd do the same thing VP did for me and tell my readers about her and her blog so that she can expand her own blog-world! She writes about being newly graduated, a newlywed, and being newly relocated to Atlanta, GA. It's hard not to see her very much, but it's great to keep track of her through her blog :)

Also, I wanted to warn anyone who doesn't already know - I LOVE Christmas and you can be expecting a post about the holiday and my traditions soon. I actually can't believe I haven't posted anything yet, since I've been listening to Christmas music for over a week now (okay, two weeks).

Work has been crazy busy, and since my laptop is temporarily (I hope) on the fritz, I've only been able to keep track of this blog while I'm at work. So any gaps in communication from me can be directly related to my high attendance at recruitment events (and thus, not being in the office) or - the weekend. LOL.

Finally, I hope everyone has a great Turkey Day!! This meal is my favorite one of the entire year, so know that I will be gorging myself tomorrow!

Oh, and a P.S. - I STILL have not received my student teaching assignment. I did call the ED Dept. but the person I need to talk to has been and still is on vacation. My professor/advisor/head of secondary ed told me that it's not unusual to not know this far into the game. She doesn't understand that I have a black hole in my life beginning at the end of December and I need to know what will be happening during that time. My schedule is hectic up until I leave work and then...nothing. ARGH!!!

Why, Oh Why?

2008-11-24T08:32:00.007-05:00

So, I read the Twilight books on the recommendation of many people, including my wonderful blog friend, Vegas Princess. She loved the movie. I...did not.

For anyone out there who hasn't seen the movie or read the books, be forewarned, I will be talking about characters and scenes that I hated!!

Two colleagues (one a Twilight fan, the other just likes vampires) and I made a day out of going to see the movie on Saturday. We bought our VIP tickets, went to lunch, had a drink, did a wee bit of shopping, went to the movie. After the movie, the Twilight Fan (TF) and I were so disturbed we had to have another drink.

First and most importantly: WTF was wrong with the actor they picked for Jasper??? His eyes, his hair, his every odd movement and action...oh Lord. TF and I immediately turned to one another and started laughing.

Every time he came on screen, we could barely control ourselves - seriously, what was wrong with?? Someone needs to tell hair and makeup that the Cullens are the good vampires, including Jasper. I only hope he loses some crazy in the next three movies!

Secondly, we hated the choice for Carlisle. I had heard that Peter Facinelli was portraying him, and I actually thought it would be okay. I like PF, I've seen him in a few movies, and I thought it would be fine. It was not. He had horribly dyed blond hair and looked nothing like my mental pic of Carlisle. TF agreed with me, but my other co-worker, the non-Twilight fan (NTF) actually really liked him.

I was okay with most of the casting selections. I really liked Bella and Edward (although TF and NTF both hated the choice for Edward), which really is the most important thing. I also liked Charlie and Jacob. I did not like Billy - he had a funny, crazy eye thing going there for a scene or two, also.

TF and I are both people who MUST read the book prior to seeing the movie, and then never like the movie very much as a result, because Hollywood never stays true enough to the book. We always go on opening night to the newest Harry Potter movies, and then rip them apart afterwards, but this was worse than that.

Back to Twilight - the other things that I hated had to do with the content. First, it drives me CRAZY when they do things out of order for no particular reason. They did this a lot with the sequence of Bella & Edward's relationship. I hated that they cut parts out of the "meadow" scene from the book (and that it wasn't really in a meadow) and I think if they had left it verbatim, viewers who hadn't read the book would have had a better idea of why Edward and Bella were so drawn to one another. This is my favorite part of the book, and they totally ruined it in the movie.

Also, I hated the scene when Bella was supposed to be leaving Charlie. Where was the passion? The tears? The slamming of doors? Instead, she calmly slams one door, moves back and forth between the bedroom and the bathroom, and doesn't really give Charlie a reason for leaving. She doesn't even cry!! How are we supposed to know how broken up she is about leaving if she can't even shed a tear? Grrr....

Okay, I need to stop before I pick apart the entire movie! The sad thing is that I know I'll go see the next 3 when they come out! Hopefully I like them better :)

Oh Lord...

2008-11-21T11:06:00.002-05:00

Please tell me this is not what I'm in for as a future English teacher!!

A One-Two Punch Of Knowledge Knocks Marcy Out
Girl #1: Oh my god! Romeo and Juliet is a book!
Girl #2: It's like, Shakespeare.
Girl #1: Oh my god, who?

Borders Bookstore
Commack, New York

www.overheardeverywhere.com

Winery Tour

2008-11-18T15:26:00.014-05:00

So, one of the many things that happened over my busy past few days is the annual winery tour that I organized. Three years ago, two of my friends and I spent a beautiful fall weekend at my parents' cottage, on Pymatuning Lake about 1.5 hours north of Pittsburgh.

We decided to go to two local wineries, and then ventured over the border into Ohio and visited a ton there. We wound up going to 10 wineries that day. I was driving, so I stopped drinking - I only took a sip here or there if my friends thought I'd like it. We had a blast, my friends were very tipsy, and we bought tons of wine.

After we came home, everyone we told about our weekend wanted to do something similar. So, last year, we got a group together and did the same thing. We wound up with about 16 people, we booked a (short) school bus, and were on our way. We had mimosas on the bus, lots of snacks, and visited five wineries in Northeast, PA (just north of Erie). It was a blast!

I know this pic is not the best, but it really gives you a beatiful glimpse of the short bus :)

After the school bus, more and more people wanted to join our fun. I mean, who wouldn't? What is there not to love about family and friends chugging around wineries on a short bus?

This year the trip was later due to everyone's busy schedules. My parents wound up not being able to come with us (b/c my dad doesn't pay attention when I tell him things) and a lot of people who committed early on wound up dropping out for one reason or another. At any rate, we wound up with a large school bus this year, and 15 friends. Once again, we had a blast!

There were a few stress & drama-filled moments for me that had me swearing up and down I would never organize another trip, but overall, it turned out great. We had originally asked for a large bus b/c we had so many people, and I tried the day of the trip to get us into a smaller bus to save some cash, but it turns out only the full sized buses can go out of state. Weird, huh?

We returned to the site of our original winery tour, chugging around Madison and Geneva, Ohio. We were on this wine trail, and we were on the section that forms a little "s" on the bottom left. There are 10 wineries in that area, but we only made it to six of them.

The bus was gigantic. Our driver Leigh was phenomenal until she got a little touchy at the end - not all of the parking lots were "bus friendly" and it started to snow as well.

My favorite wine came from St. Joseph's Vineyard. That's their logo (cute, huh?) to the right. I personally prefer dry and semi-dry wines, and I think I liked all of their wines that fall into those categories. In addition, the wife of the owner was the person who poured our samples, and she was amazing! Per Ohio wine, the vineyards are supposed to charge you for samples. She gave us all of our samples for free, and she knocked $5 off of the price of each bottle of wine we bought. That's good for business - we will definitely be back!

Another favorite location was Harpersfield Winery . They had a fire going that smelled out of this world good, and their tasting room was small but very cozy. A few of my friends ordered food, and that was delicious. Plus, their wine was delish! The atmosphere was so fantastic I had to remind myself to mention the wine, but it was a great place. Very chateau-esqe! That's the outside of the winery to the left, and the yummy fireplace to the right. Actually, I think the pic to the left is going to have a room or two available as a bed and breakfast in the spring. Great idea!

There was another winery where I really liked the wine, but the employees were not fantastic. I called every winery to make sure they were cool with us coming in with a busload of people (even though it wasn't full). If I didn't talk to a person, I left a voicemail. Everyone I spoke with was super friendly and happy for us to come.

The South Rive r Viney ard was the exception. We had specifically remembered their winery b/c it is housed in an old church and is very unique. Plus, they have beautiful grounds, including a pavilion with a fireplace and adirondack chairs.

So, we arrive and march up the steps into the winery. We were particularly excited about this winery b/c we planned to take our snacks off of the bus and sit for awhile, eat, drink wine, etc.

The woman working the counter looked at us and said, "Wow. No one told us there was a bus coming." My friend said we could leave if they didn't want our business.

I don't think the employee heard her, but I told her that I had called to let them know we were coming, and if it was inconvenient, we would leave (there were not a lot of people in the winery, I don't know what they were worried about). At this point she back-pedaled and said it was fine. We tasted a few and bought some bottles. One of my friends bought an entire case for holiday presents.

I asked if we could unload our snacks and eat outside or inside at the tables. She said it wasn't a problem at all. So we went outside to start unloading and one of my friends overheard another exchange. A couple was walking into the winery and the guy said to the employee something about the bus. The woman told him we were leaving.

What? You just told us we could eat here, and now we're not allowed to stay?

We left. We probably would have anyway, since the weather was getting iffy and it was too windy to sit outside, but talk about unaccommodating. Why would treat a group who gave you significant business in such an unfriendly way? I guess I just don't understand. It's a shame, I'll probably never go back and their wine really is good. Oh well!

We didn't let it bother us. We visited another winery, Debonne, and were able to get in and taste right away. They even had a mini brewery for my cousin's boyfriend to enjoy, along with live music. Two of my friends immediately got on the tiny dance floor and made friends with the band, and the rest of us just hung out. We really had a great last winery. We drank a bottle of their yummy red wine with the best name: Cab/Cab (that entertained us for awhile) and then piled back on the bus to head back to the cottage.

Overall, it really was a good time. Everyone who went was fun and I think had fun. I think I'll probably do another year, although I may leave the planning up to my sister! My parents are sad that they missed it, so I think we'll have to do a repeat.

Waiting

2008-11-17T15:48:00.002-05:00

Sorry I have been MIA lately...I was traveling for work Wednesday-Friday and the laptop I took with me would not connect to the Internet...then I was out of town and away from computers for the weekend as well. I've been trying to catch up on everyone's blogs and make comments but have not made it all the way through yet. But I'll read them, I swear!

So, I checked my e-mail once during the past five days, and I had received an e-mail from a classmate saying she received her student teaching assignment and where it was. So I raced home from Harrisburg to check my mail in the 3 hours I was in Pittsburgh before leaving again. Nothing.

Last night I came home from the Steelers game and glomped down to the mailbox again, still in all of my game gear (which was soaking wet from the rain and snow). Nada.

When is it coming? I don't like not knowing where the next four months of my life is going to be spent. I need to prepare myself as much as I can; I'm already nervous about teaching in general. I need to leave work in the next five minutes to go to class, so it'll be a few more hours before I can check the mail tonight. My schedule is crazy all week again, I have job fairs and will be in and out of the office every day this week (except for Wednesday when I'm not in at all). I can't bear the wait.

I was okay until I knew my classmate received her assignment. Now, it's torturous. Sigh.

Cranky People

2008-11-11T15:52:00.003-05:00

I have a really hard time with people who just can't manage to be civil to others for no particular reason. I am the type of person who will be annoyingly friendly and upbeat 95% of the time, regardless of how angry you're making me. When you catch me during that other 5%, I'm usually just short or snippy, very rarely am I downright rude.

Of course, when I am on the phone with someone who is not understanding what I'm telling them or asking ridiculously stupid questions, I will vent when I'm off the phone. But I'm usually not rude to the caller.

So, it's particularly irritating when someone is unnecessarily rude to me. I'm leaving tomorrow for Harrisburg for a 3-day job fair - it's the only big one I go to every year, and I always look forward to taking the small trip. We have a corporate "executive assistant" (EA) who registers us as a system for all recruitment events, orders all giveaways, etc. She asked me to stop by to pick up the materials I'll need for this particular event, despite the fact that she has couriered all of the other materials I've used all year over to me (our offices are not far from each other, but are not in the same building or complex).

I planned to go yesterday, but wound up running out of time on the way to yesterday's recruitment event. So I figured I'd get them today when I leave - EA typically works 8-5, so I could just stay late, make sure everything's under control for my back-up, and pick them up on my way home.

EA left me a voicemail saying that she didn't know when I was picking up the supplies, but that she had to leave today at 2:00 PM and I needed to pick them up no later than 1:30 PM. She left this message at about 11:30 AM, leaving me a small window of time to do so. Now I would have to validate my parking, drive to pick up the supplies, re-park, and have to validate my parking again when I leave. Not a huge deal, but it makes me feel bad having to validate my parking twice in the same day.

Optimistic me decides to look on the bright side. I ask a few co-workers if they want to come along for the ride and then we can all go to lunch at a local German restaurant. I send an e-mail to EA (approximately 15 minutes after she left the voicemail) and tell her I'll be there in about half an hour, and that I'll call when I'm on my way.

I start calling from the parking garage. Her phone is forwarded to her voicemail. I continue to call for the 5 minutes it takes to get to her building. She never answers. I try to track down another person in her office so that she can tell the EA I'm on my way. The other person also doesn't answer.

So we arrive and my 3 colleagues go into the building to try to find the EA. They arrive and find EA eating her carrot sticks for lunch. She is extremely huffy, saying that I was supposed to pick the stuff up yesterday, she didn't get my e-mail b/c she was eating, and her phone was forwarded b/c she's at lunch. She grabs the boxes and starts slamming them around for my co-workers. As she gathers the materials, she tells them to make sure I know to return her cart as soon as I return from my trip.

My colleagues have to use the loading dock to exit the building b/c they can't go out the front door for some reason. The lift is broken, and they have to carry all of the boxes and the cart down a flight of stairs. The EA's cart has her name taped to the handle. After lunch, I have an e-mail from EA telling me that my co-workers didn't seem happy and reminding me to drop off the cart when I return.

Is this situation ridiculous to anyone else, or just us? I know if I were leaving for the day at 2:00 PM, if I even ate lunch, I would do so while answering my phone and keeping up with my e-mails. I'm determined to open a mini moving company just so I can use the cart over and over again and never return it. I'm not sure why she needs it - maybe she wheels paperwork down the hallway?

Halloween

2008-11-04T14:33:00.010-05:00

These are just a few pictures from my fun weekend. My friend had a party on Friday night and we had a blast!

These are two of my friends, dressed as Twister and Bam Bam. How cute is that Twister dress?? She had the spinner on a little hat but didn't really wear it b/c it wasn't comfortable.

My friend Speechy and I were hipsters on Friday night. We created and rehearsed our definition for anyone who didn't know what a hipster was: "They think everything is ironic. They only watch Indie movies and listen to Indie music. And they're taking over our neighborhoods!" We wore clothes that didn't match, tights, glasses, scarves, and had face tattoos. And of course we drank PBR all night (Pabst Blue Ribbon)! My hair is particularly messy in this picture. Hipsters don't bathe for long periods of time - we weren't willing to go that far, but I put tons of hairspray in my hair and tried to make it as messy as possible. At one point it was in a "hipster pouf" but it didn't stay up for very long. My hair is definitely not aerodynamic!

This is my co-worker and her hubby (the same ones who were in the other LBS at the Steelers game). They were dressed as Bill and Sookie from the new HBO show True Blood. Sookie was up all night making her outfit - she even created True Blood bottles and a waitress tray. You can't tell from this picture, but her t-shirt does have a little "Merlotte's" logo on it. How cute is that? I don't have HBO so I haven't seen the show, but I've read all of Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse books. I have issues with the differences between books and movies, but that's for another day!

We were in the basement for a large portion of the party playing flip cup. It was boys against girls and one of the guys was dressed as the cowbell guy from the SNL skit (another guy was the Christopher Walken character, but he wasn't playing with us). We were all obsessed with the cowbell, as you can kind of see from this picture - he would play it and we would clap and chant for everything ("Flip cup, flip cup;" "Bathroom break, bathroom break;" "PBR, PBR"). It was out of control but SO fun!

The Luxury Box Suite

2008-10-30T13:12:00.013-04:00

Okay, I started writing this forever ago and have just been waiting for my sister to upload my pictures so I could post it. She still hasn't done that, but one of my friends who was with us did, and I've included some of hers instead :)

So my friend (I'll call her Speechy) and I were taking a walk last Wednesday and I asked her what her plans were for the weekend. She had a few goals: drink a pumpkin beer, buy her Halloween costume, and win Luxury Box Suite (LBS) tickets for Sunday's Steelers game. She had entered a raffle at her workplace and they only sold 50 tickets, so she had pretty good odds. I really hoped she would win too, since I haven't missed a home game since I moved back to Pittsburgh, but I didn't have the cash flow to buy a ticket (I naturally assumed she would invite me if she won!). I woke up on Thursday and watched the news, as I do every morning while I'm getting ready for work. The weather forecast said it would be unseasonably cold on Sunday. I thought," Wow, that stinks b/c it's a night game. Oh well, we won't feel it b/c we'll be in the box." And then immediately tried to un-think it - I didn't want to jinx her chances of winning!!!

As I'm sure you guessed, Speechy's ticket was pulled, and she won the raffle. She called me after work and I screamed when she told me. It was the most exciting thing ever - I had never been in a LBS, I was going to get to go the game, and really, winning anything is exciting! Of course, these tickets were the best prize ever. Speechy won 4 tickets, so she invited me and two of our other friends.

I knew Sunday was going to be the best day of my life. I couldn't wait to tailgate with my family and the whole tailgate crew. My dad has had season tickets for about 35 years now, so we're old hats. We're in the same location for every game, we grill yummy food and drink lots of beer. When the weather gets colder, we have a fire barrel to keep us toasty, and the home game that's closest to Christmas we celebrate the holiday with lots of singing and a tree that we hang beer cans on. Anyway, the tailgate was fun, as always. Speechy came down early to play, and we rounded up people to play flip cup around the world's smallest table. We also had my sister's lethal jello shots.

Finally, it was time to head into the game. Our anticipation was out of control - the four of us were so excited, we kept taking ridiculous pictures of us: with our tickets, walking to the stadium, etc. We got to go in a special entrance, which was amazing. Waiting to get into the stadium always takes forever and is a mad crush, so it was really nice to be in a quicker line! Then we were in a little lobby and took elevators up to the box level. The walkway where the suites were located had lots of Steelers pictures (past and present). We immediately saw tons of service people, waiters/waitresses, etc. who were very friendly and took kindly to the fact that I stopped every three steps to take pictures. This picture below is from the balcony/walkway overlooking the private box suite bar/restuarant.

Then - we arrived at the box. We pushed open the door and it was beautiful! First (and most importantly) we had our very own bathroom!! Anyone who's ever waited in the ridiculously long lines at any type of sporting event can appreciate how exciting that was! There was a small lounge area (a few chairs and table) and a buffet set up in the kitchen area. The rest of the people were already in the box, and they welcomed us and told us to help ourselves to food and drinks. Eek! We were so excited. We grabbed seats and I was awestruck by the view, by the boxes surrounding us, by the entire thing, really. We went through the buffet, got drinks and just sort of took it all in. We were pretty overwhelmed.

Since we were the last people in the box, we couldn't get four seats in a row, but we had two in front and two in back. My original seat was nice, but I couldn't see the entire field (I could actually only see a tiny sliver). They have glass on either wall so that you can see through the boxes on each side and to the field, but the glass had some sunglare on it, so it wasn't super easy to see out of. I watched the view on the scoreboard for awhile, and then one of the men in the box told us we could move over to the other side and we would see better from there. So we did, and it was MUCH better! This picture gives you an idea of what we could see from our new seats. Regardless, the view was amazing! I'm lucky enough to be spoiled b/c I sit so frequently in my Dad's seats, but the view was still pretty good. The weather was actually beautiful, but I can only imagine how nice it must be to sit indoors in the boxes during the freezing cold weather games!

The next exciting event was a visit from the Steelers mascot, Steely McBeam!! Yes, the mascot is super lame. The Steelers went 75 years without a mascot and then felt the need to create one for the anniversary celebrations. Like I said, lame. But, it was still exciting to see Steely's big yellow head in the LBS next door and try to coax him into visiting us afterwards! He did, and it was hilarious. Steely is super tall, very squishy, and carries a foam steel bar. We took pics of all of us with Steely, of each group of people in the box with him, etc. I'm just including a picture from when he entered the box so as not to be too repetitive!

During halftime we went to visit one of my colleagues who was in another LBS. Her hubby gets tickets to some games, and they wound up having last-minute seats for this one. His boss's wife was super nice, making us drinks (they had a wider variety of food/etc. than we did) and chatting with us. We stayed longer than we planned - they were on the exact opposite side of the stadium. On the way back from their LBS, we stopped at one of the many, glorious dessert carts in the hallways. They were unbelievable, stocked with the most lucious treats ever! One of my friends treated us to dessert and a yummy shot, and then we finally made it back to our own box.

We watched the rest of the game, and unfortunately, the Steelers lost to the Giants :( We could have played better and won, but I'm not dwelling on that, I swear! Overall, it was an amazing experience and I'm so grateful to my friend for inviting me. I will definitely never forget it.

The only other thing I have to say is that I don't think I would want to watch every game from the LBS. There's just something about being in the stands with all of the rest of the fans, surrounded by like-minded people, waving my terrible towel, and screaming my lungs out that can't be beat. All of that is kind of muffled in the LBS, and a lot of the other people in our box did not seem like they were huge fans. I think a lot of wheeling and dealing probably happens there, but beyond that it doesn't really have the energy of the rest of the stadium. And I definitely think my friends and I were most appreciative of the opportunity to be in the box - we were thrilled to be there, and the others seemed to take it in stride.

Pens Vs. Steelers

2008-10-28T09:41:00.006-04:00

So, last Thursday I was the lucky recipient of a free ticket to the Pens hockey game. My friend's dad got 4 tickets and she took me :) I haven't been to a Pens game since very early high school, and not to a hockey game since early college. I'm obviously used to football sporting events, since I've been to many many Steelers home games. Thus, there were a number of comparisons I was able to see between hockey and football that I thought I'd share!

1. Ice: Yes, the Penguins actually play on ice. Not sure who originally thought it would be a good idea to strap blades to their shoes, skate across frozen water and use a crooked stick to shoot rubberized plastic into a goofy net, but there you have it - hockey in a nutshell! It was very odd to be inside for an event (I really wanted them to open the roof!), and even stranger to be inside and still be cold!

2. Cup holders: There weren't any. What is that? Who can possibly balance a beer on their knees while jumping up to cheer for their team? I guess I'm not that talented. I suppose this has something to do with the fact that the Arena was built in the 1960s (although I know they had beer then) and didn't think to include them. I just hope that the new arena gives these the attention that they deserve!

3. Offsides: Okay, so there's offsides in football. I understand that rule, totally know what they mean when the referees call it. But there's also offsides in hockey. What the heck? I can't figure out this rule to save my life. My little cousin tried to explain it to me once, but despite his valiant efforts, I remain clueless. I know it was called once against us, and another time Sidney Crosby skated all the way back down into our territory for no reason that I could see before going back to aim for the opposing team's goal - I assume to avoid an offsides call? I think it has something do do with the blue lines...

4. Song Choice: There were waaay more songs played at the Pens game than there have been at any Steelers game I've gone to! Plus, who authorized polka as an acceptable music genre? I understand we're in Western Pennsylvania, but I'd rather see those eastern European roots come to fruition through delicious pierogies, and not through obnoxious music!! I actually felt like I was at a baseball game. There was a lot of visual stimuli happening the entire time.

5. Elvis: So, there was a guy sitting in front of me who was dressed as Elvis. He had on a white jumpsuit with gold sparklies, yellow-tinted glasses, sideburns, the whole works. And he was absolutely no fun. Now, if Elvis attended a Steelers game, he would be jumping around like a maniac, doing everything in his power to draw the attention of the cameras and make it on the jumbo-tron. The Pens Elvis just sat there. The camera guy actually was close by at the beginning of the game and had the camera trained on him, and still Elvis just sat. Seriously?? What's the point of dressing up if you're not going to have fun with it? Worse, I think he's a season ticket holder - some other attendees seemed to know him and were trying to get him to dance, but he wouldn't unless they bought him a beer (they didn't. I wouldn't have either).

6. Fights: So, I get that there are fights in hockey. And I get that fans love to see two big, burly guys pummel each other. But I don't get that the refs just stand and watch. What is that all about? I can appreciate that if they want to fight, they're going to fight. But for the refs to literally back away as soon as a duo starts to circle one another or pull of their gloves seems just a little to accepting to me. I couldn't get over how they let this keep happening.

So, my conclusion is that Steelers football will for sure remain my favorite sport. I understand the fans, the rules, the stadium much better than I'll probably ever appreciate the Civic Arena. I'm happy I got to see a Pens game, especially before they rip down the Arena to make way for the new one. The Pens wound up winning the game, thanks to a rally in the third period that was super exciting. And keep an eye out for my next post, when I talk about the pinnacle of a Steelers fan's game attendance - I got to spend Sunday's game in a Luxury Box Suite!!

Six Random Things

2008-10-24T08:31:00.002-04:00

Yay, VP tagged me!! It's been a few days since I posted and I've been missing from cyberland overall (very exciting things happening in my life...keep an eye out for my next post and all will be revealed!). Anyway, here's my response:

1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Blog 6 random things about yourself
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
4. If you're tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag Six Random Things

1. I LOVE strawberries. They are by far the queen of all things fruity. How can you resist their plump redness? And the taste - yum! My sister and I always wanted my mom to buy us strawberries year round and never understood how expensive they were in Southwestern PA out of season. To this day, every time I have them I consider it a treat.

2. I just finished participating in an Allergy Study here at my hospital. I joined it b/c one of my nursing directors was doing it, and I figured the extra cash couldn't hurt. The study was for people who are allergic to ragweed, and I had to take the medicine daily for almost six months. At the initial visit, I found out I was allergic to cats, grass, dust mites, and ragweed. The study was fine, but the medicine tasted horrible and I had a really hard time forcing myself to take it every morning. But - now I think I probably had the actual medicine and not the placebo b/c ever since the study ended, my allergies have been terrible!

3. I am very big on family traditions. My favorite day of the entire year is Christmas Eve. My entire life, we've always spent the early evening with very, very close family friends and then gone to mass. After church, we head to my paternal grandparents' house to eat and exchange gifts with that entire side of my family. I am extremely close to my cousins on that side of the family, and we always sit upstairs and sing Christmas carols and stare at the presents and yell at the "adults" to come upstairs.

4. Okay, I'm kind of cheating, as this kind of relates to my last random thing, but it's my blog, so there! The other Christmas Eve tradition we have is that my Grandma always buys all of the cousins a set of pajamas. After the gifts are opened, we all change into our PJs and lounge around in them before wearing them home. Last summer, my sister, my cousin and her boyfriend, and I all went to Orlando to visit my other cousin. My Grandma sent summer PJs with my sister for all of us to open, along with really funny (and rather uncharacteristic) notes. We loved it!

5. I have a "thing" for textures. I love to touch things and to pet materials. When I first started at my current job, I would always pet peoples' clothing if the material looked smooth or unusual. Okay, by pet, I mean I would just feel the material. This was completely normal for me - my friends and I have done this to one another for years. However, my co-workers thought (and still think) it was hilarious. Over three years later, they've finally gotten used to it, but they still occasionally refer to me as "The Petter!"

6. I have a fairly recent weakness for handbags. Four years ago I took my first trip to NYC and totally got sucked into the scandalous, illegal purse buying on Canal Street. It was the most thrilling thing! We would go into a stall selling jewelry, mention we were looking for Coach, and the little man would make sure his lookout was posted before opening up the back wall and letting us into the secret room, covered with designer imposter bags. Amazing!! After our first purchase, we had our booty encased in the plain black plastic bags (we call these "scandal bags"). These carriers identified us to all of the other salespeople as purse-buyers, and we couldn't walk four steps without being propositions.

Okay, now I have to tag 6 people, and I don't have a lot of blog friends so here goes:
Andi
Szia! Robyn
jellybean
Shades
CruelShoes
Kristen & Seth

That Darn Election

2008-10-16T11:29:00.005-04:00

Well, I didn't want to talk about it, since, like many others, I am SO sick and tired of the campaigns, the ads, the incessant news coverage. But I actually watched a little bit of the debate last night, so I figured I would throw in my two cents.

I didn't watch all of the debate, since it was mostly about the economy and fairly redundant - we've heard most of what they said last night already, in one forum or another. But at the end, they finally, FINALLY, talked about education. My classmates, professor, and I lamented at school after the last debate how the two candidates seemed to be ignoring education. We all said that we hadn't heard a peep about it since Hillary was still in the race. And yes, the economy is important, but really, don't you think Education should at least be mentioned?

I am one of the many voters in the "swing state" of PA who has yet to finalize my decision on a candidate. I'm of the opinion that all politicians lie, and I don't love either Obama or McCain. I think Obama is charismatic and kind of swarmy, and McCain is just - awkward and inconsistent. When I did an online poll based on issues, my feelings did lean more towards a particular candidate, but I'm still having a hard time rallying up any enthusiasm for him.

Back to education. Do the candidates really know what they're talking about? Yes, charter schools can be positive, as can vouchers. But for McCain to say that all schools are created equal and that there is a lot of money available for students in poorer areas to improve their education is just ridiculous. No Child Left Behind is a great, idealistic idea. As a government plan, it sucks. The better schools are rewarded handsomely for their high test scores, while the poorer (both monetarily poor and performance poor) are punished and given less funding. All this does is serve to widen the education gap.

Also, while I agree that having highly qualified teachers is an important aspect of NCLB, we can't put responsibility solely in their hands. An educator who teaches her students how to take a test well, drills them on these skills, and utilizes her classroom as the arena for these tasks may very well enable her students to be successful on state exams. High test scores boost the school's rating and demonstrate AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress). But how do we know that the students actually understand what they're learning and retain this information? Many educators who use creative methods in the classroom and believe that assessment is ongoing and diverse may not have students that are as successful on state tests simply because they can evaluate their students in multiple ways, not just in this type of tests. So who's the better teacher? According to our presidential candidates, teacher number one is.

I'm disappointed in both of the candidates. I really hoped that at least one of them would have presented an idea for a more cohesive education system, or at least addressed/acknowledge the problems that exist with NCLB. I did miss the very start of their conversation about education, since I was flipping between shows, so maybe I missed a critical point, but I doubt it. I definitely heard McCain mention how wonderful NCLB is, and Obama didn't rebut that. So...I'm still undecided. I wish I could be like family members and friends who are fired up about one candidate or another, or about the election in general, but I just can't get over these impressions, and I can't see the positives of voting for one over the other.

Daughter of a Pistol

2008-10-10T14:18:00.004-04:00

I got to thinking today about colloquialisms. What exactly is the son of a gun? Where did he come from? And why is it a boy and not a girl? Surely if a gun can reproduce, it can have sons and daughters.

Why is it so normal for someone to exclaim, "Son of a gun!" when something goes poorly or when a discovery is found? My colleague and I got to chatting about it, and we decided that we want to replace "son of a gun" with "daughter of a pistol." Much more politically correct in these pre-election days, and it sounds fresh and new.

Since I was so curious, I turned to my good friend Google who referred me to Wikipedia. I know that Wikipedia isn't always the most accurate source, but they're usually pretty darn close. And they always let you know when they're unsure. At any rate, I discovered a few things. First, there are many, many songs that contain this phrase. My two favorite references are from "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" - " I told you once, you son of a gun, that I'm the best there's ever been." and from "Girlfriend (Cupid's Chokehold)" - If I had to choose her or the sun, I'd be one nocturnal son of a gun." (At this point, if I were blogger techno-savvy, I might attach a clip of each song...but I don't know how to!).

The other interesting thing was that the phrase is prevalent in both British and American English, but they have different origins. "In British naval slang this term refers to a child of questionable parentage conceived on the gun deck, hence 'son of a gun'. However, children born on board British naval vessels to enlisted men were referred to as a 'true son of a gun'." And "In American folk idiom (American), this term has similar meaning to the British one, but was derived from military bureaucratic treatment of young enlisted men of uncertain familial background." Isn't it amazing that two different cultures would come up with the same phrase in similar ways?

Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_a_gun

So, my goal is to forget "son of a gun" and go with "daughter of a pistol." Help me spread the word!!

SFB

2008-10-07T17:03:00.004-04:00

SFB is a creature that I have recently become acquainted with, courtesy of my lovely colleagues. It all began when my counterpart had an unfortunate encounter with some bad Chik-Fil-A at our local mall. She has always been someone who has had, shall I say, digestive issues, and unfortunately she has no problems sharing them with the rest of the office. After the Chik-Fil-A, the e-mails were flying between a handful of us, including my boss who was at a meeting off-site. Today, my boss encountered the same problems after his lunch...

I picture SFB to be a small, old gnome, with a scraggly beard and a low sense of humor. His little pointy hat is usually askew, and his clothes are a little worn. He carries with him a miniature bellows, bright red (to match his hat) with gold embellishments. The bellows is just as worn as his clothes, and the folds are just about ready to be replaced. SFB skips around, always looking for trouble. You may frequently find him close to a fresh crop of broccoli or some truly potent kidney beans. When he sees you, he becomes impish, mischieviously using his bellows to help you emit some of the most horrendous sounds and smells known to man. SFB merrily pumps his bellows, his gleeful giggle echoing mysteriously around his victim, forcing him/her to believe that madness accompanies their affliction.

I would wish that SFB would stay close to the greasy french fries or Indian restaurant, but unfortunately he likes to travel, and you never know when or where he is going to strike next. So, I suppose that we'll all just have to be on the lookout. Hopefully Smelly Fart Bags is too busy to visit me any time soon!

And a Rant...

2008-10-07T12:54:00.003-04:00

First, I can't write a new post without saying how AMAZING the NKOTB concert was!!! I know that I will never hear the end of it, but my sister and I were totally impressed, and the show was well worth the price of tickets and gas from Pgh to Cleveland. If I were more techno-savvy, I would post some of the pics from my phone to this blog, but I don't even know how to get them off of my phone, so sorry kiddos! I also have to add - Jordan looked HOT! I was always a Joey fan, and I still am, but Jordan did "Baby I Believe in You" with a shirt blowing around his naked torso, and all I have to say is YUM-O!

On to my rant. This is completely random, but one of the things I hate most as a driver is when a car pulls out in front of you and then sloooows doooown. I am aware that I have a slightly leaden foot when it comes to the gas pedal, but if you have the audacity to zoom in front of my car and risk being hit, why would you slow down once you're there? This is particularly irritating on two-way streets when you can't utilize a passing lane. I also always seem to have this occur when I'm already running late. I'll make a right onto 35th Street so I can turn onto Smallman and hopefully miss all of the lights on Penn Avenue (and the extra traffic)...only to have a big honkin' Mack truck pull out and feel the need to drive 10 MPH. At least have the courtesy to meet the pathetic 25 MPH speed limit!

So, you can imagine how aggravated I was when this happened, not on the road this morning, but in the hospital. Let me paint a picture for you: our cafeteria is on the second floor, and I was running late for lunch (all of my colleagues had already gotten lunch and were back on my floor in our conference room). The hallway leading from my elevators to the cafeteria narrows so that you can only have two lanes of "traffic," going to and from the caf. I was walking quickly, as usual, and the path in front of me was clear: no elderly visitors with their walkers, no employees complaining about the weather, and no patients dragging their IV poles to the smoking patio. "Yes!" I thought. "Home free! I can dart in and grab my food and catch up with my co-workers."

It was not to be. Midway down the hall, a maintenance man darted out of a hidden office door and jumped in front of me. And then - slowed down. One would think with all the darting and the jumping that he was a quick mover, but apparently not. The other side of the hallway was filled with a line of happy people who already had their lunches, so I couldn't pass him. Unfortunately, he did not have any side view mirrors, so he couldn't tell that I was practically tailgating him. By the time we approached the caf entrance, two old ladies were blocking the doors, reading the menu to one another.

I am aware that in the grand scheme of things, my being late to lunch is not important. I certainly know that Maintenance Guy didn't care, and he probably thought it was okay to stroll along. But I am here to tell you, it's not okay. If I ever pull out in front of anyone or cut them off in a hallway, I will immediately step on the gas or start to jog. I'm sure that all other speed walkers will appreciate my thoughtfulness!

Poppin' the Cherry...

2008-10-03T13:48:00.004-04:00

So, I've lately been a voyeur on a few blogs, and it's inspired me to attempt to create my own. I don't know that I'm going to be as eloquent or interesting as some of the other peoples' who I've read, but it never hurts to try, right?

Tonight my sister and I are driving to Cleveland to see...wait for it...NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK!! I'm so excited, I can't wait. My parents refused to take us when we were young, so we're taking matters into our own hands to make up for it.

I know all the arguments against the group. I'm well aware that they're no longer "young." I know that Jon is gay, and if they only began singing today, I sincerely doubt that I would be a fan. But, when I was in 3rd and 4th grades, NKOTB was the epitome of "cool." I had a huge crush on Joey McIntyre, a "just Joey" poster, buttons, and t-shirt, etc. Between my sister and me, we probably had one of every type of merchandise that was on the market. I can still sing all of the songs verbatim, and I remember how excited I was to receive the Step by Step tape for one of my birthdays (BTW, that's the on with the "Happy Birthday" song, and I truly thought Jon Knight was singing it to me for my birthday. Oh, and yes, that's right - I can tell you which member takes the lead on every song).

As a child, I adored this group, and as an adult, I get to relive my childhood for a few hours tonight. I think that's a pretty neat opportunity, and I'm glad that my sister and I are actually going. Mary Beth is just as big of a fan as I was, so this is a truly momentous occasion. When I first saw NKOTB in May on the Today Show, I got flutters of excitement and weak-kneed just as I did when I was little and watched their concerts on TV. Who knew these emotions would last? I've definitely neglected my end of this relationship - I've gone years without listening to a single New Kids song. So it was good to find out that nothing had really changed. I feel like I'm going back to visit my first boyfriend or to see my first crush after years. I only have one regret ~ after all these years, they still don't know I'm alive. Sigh.