1) Why is it that I'm the only person in this house that knows where the dishwasher is located and what it does? I swear I'm the only person who ever puts anything in it or puts anything in it away. My dad doesn't even touch it when he's home. Must be a man thing. Either way, it's annoying as hell.
2) Why is it that when I buy a gallon of milk it just sits there in the fridge, and half of it goes bad before it gets used? And when I only buy a half-gallon, it's gone in two days.
3) Well there was a 3. I forgot what it was.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
I PASSED
both of my Praxis II tests! With really good scores! 193 on Curriculum (K-5) and 182 on PLT (5-9). I got a National Excellence award for the 193 (top 15% of scores nationwide) and was 2 points shy of getting it for the 182. Haha...Donald says I should re-take it. NOT! This is such a big weight off my shoulders...so glad it's over!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Had my second-to-last Kaplan training session tonight. It's still going fine but I will be glad when it's over! I'm not sure when I'll get a class yet. The final session is Sept. 5, so I have this week off to hopefully get some school work done - 4 papers to go and they are all at least 4-5 pages, so we'll see. My goal was to be done by the end of the month, but I'll be happy with finishing by Sept. 7. Then hopefully I can finish up the last class by the end of September and have Oct - December free. That would be nice. I'd be able to really focus on my tutoring with Brainfuse and teaching with Kaplan (if I get a class).
As you can see at the top of the page, I put up two counters; one for days until we move, and the other for our savings. Donald and I were talking yesterday and we both agreed that time is going to fly between now and our move. 8.5 months to go! Seems like forever but it is not really that long. We are still thinking about where we want to go. We'd almost settled on Eugene, Oregon, but now we're leaning more toward Portland or even Vancouver, Washington. We still have a lot of research to do but I'm loving the sounds of Portland more every day. Seems like a wonderful city.
Anyway, I'm going to try to get to bed early tonight - if you call 12:30 early. I try to start the week feeling fresh :o)
As you can see at the top of the page, I put up two counters; one for days until we move, and the other for our savings. Donald and I were talking yesterday and we both agreed that time is going to fly between now and our move. 8.5 months to go! Seems like forever but it is not really that long. We are still thinking about where we want to go. We'd almost settled on Eugene, Oregon, but now we're leaning more toward Portland or even Vancouver, Washington. We still have a lot of research to do but I'm loving the sounds of Portland more every day. Seems like a wonderful city.
Anyway, I'm going to try to get to bed early tonight - if you call 12:30 early. I try to start the week feeling fresh :o)
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Score one for the good guys....
Donald and I have really been trying to eat healthier. In reality that translates into me not buying junk food when I go to the store anymore and trying to cook better meals. If it were just me and Lauren, this would be easy. We'll both eat almost anything. Donald, on the other hand, is the world's pickiest eater. He won't eat rice, any vegetable except corn, green beans, and peas - and only canned. He hates all seafood, fish, wheat bread, cream cheese, sour cream, any fruit except watermelon and canned pears, or anything even the least bit spicy. Needless to say, it's getting difficult to find healthy things that leave out these ingredients.
Over the past few months, I've figured out that once of the easiest ways to eat more vegetables is to throw baby spinach in everything. I put it in my lasagna, spaghetti, smoothies (yes, really - just toss in a handful - it'll turn your smoothie green but you won't taste it at all), sandwiches, wraps - anything. Of course, anything that I put spinach in, Donald won't eat. So I usually end up making two different versions, one with spinach and one without.
I got sneaky tonight, though. I decided to make Shrimp (Chicken for Donald) Penne with Creamy Pesto, and Donald of course got home from work before I could throw in the spinach. I'd already decided that I was putting it in his and he'd just have to deal with it. I had the spinach all chopped up with the garlic and in a bowl on the stove. When he came into the kitchen, he asked - "What is that green stuff?" I told him it was parsley, hahah! He bought it to, and ate his dinner, spinach and all, and even said it was good. I win!
No, I did not tell him he ate spinach. He would then just say something like, "I thought I tasted something funny in there". I'll let him believe that he's eating parsley for the rest of his life. MEN!
Over the past few months, I've figured out that once of the easiest ways to eat more vegetables is to throw baby spinach in everything. I put it in my lasagna, spaghetti, smoothies (yes, really - just toss in a handful - it'll turn your smoothie green but you won't taste it at all), sandwiches, wraps - anything. Of course, anything that I put spinach in, Donald won't eat. So I usually end up making two different versions, one with spinach and one without.
I got sneaky tonight, though. I decided to make Shrimp (Chicken for Donald) Penne with Creamy Pesto, and Donald of course got home from work before I could throw in the spinach. I'd already decided that I was putting it in his and he'd just have to deal with it. I had the spinach all chopped up with the garlic and in a bowl on the stove. When he came into the kitchen, he asked - "What is that green stuff?" I told him it was parsley, hahah! He bought it to, and ate his dinner, spinach and all, and even said it was good. I win!
No, I did not tell him he ate spinach. He would then just say something like, "I thought I tasted something funny in there". I'll let him believe that he's eating parsley for the rest of his life. MEN!
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Oh man, my schedule has been kicking my butt the last few weeks. Monday through Wednesday nights I spend working on school work. I'm trying to get the last of my work done before the end of September. It's going to be cutting it close, but I really want a couple months to relax before student teaching (and then moving). I have five papers left for Math/Science, then seven for Social Studies/Health/Art. So if I can continue to get 2-3 done each week, I should be fine. Thursday - Sunday I spend prepping for my Kaplan class. It technically shouldn't take me that long, but do you know how long it's been since I've done trig? A very long time (and I wasn't that good at it in the first place). The algebra came back pretty easily, which I was surprised about. Anyway, class is going well. Teaching is actually fun (probably a good thing). We'll see how it goes when I get real students, haha. I have two more weeks of training and then hopefully I'll get my own class to teach.
I know I'm going to be so much busier during student teaching and I am so dreading it. I already hate locking myself in the spare bedroom at night so I can get things done. It totally sucks, but I suppose it'll be worth it soon. To top it off, Lauren has been going to bed later and later (11:20 tonight when she finally fell asleep), so I get less time at night to work. This is probably because when she wakes up in the morning, I'm so beat from staying up until 2-3 the night before she usually ends up nursing back to sleep. If we actually got up the first time she woke up around 7-8 instead of going back to sleep until 10, she'd probably go to bed earlier. And then wake up earlier. So I'm screwed either way. Heh.
Yeah I know I'm complaining. Except that I'm really not. I do like being busy - I get more done when I have a lot to do. Better time management I think. Anyway, so if you don't hear much from me in the next few weeks, you'll know why.
I know I'm going to be so much busier during student teaching and I am so dreading it. I already hate locking myself in the spare bedroom at night so I can get things done. It totally sucks, but I suppose it'll be worth it soon. To top it off, Lauren has been going to bed later and later (11:20 tonight when she finally fell asleep), so I get less time at night to work. This is probably because when she wakes up in the morning, I'm so beat from staying up until 2-3 the night before she usually ends up nursing back to sleep. If we actually got up the first time she woke up around 7-8 instead of going back to sleep until 10, she'd probably go to bed earlier. And then wake up earlier. So I'm screwed either way. Heh.
Yeah I know I'm complaining. Except that I'm really not. I do like being busy - I get more done when I have a lot to do. Better time management I think. Anyway, so if you don't hear much from me in the next few weeks, you'll know why.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
Okay, this heat is just getting ridiculous now (right now - temp 100, heat index 109). All of my Mississippi friends can relate, I'm sure. Lauren and I stayed inside this week because it was so hot, and I was looking forward to next week for some more reasonable weather (read: not over 98 degrees). I just checked the 10-day forecast, and now the highs are over 100 every day for the next five days. It's not supposed to be anywhere near bearable until next Saturday, with a high of 94. Yay. Another week of being stuck inside.
I had to get out of the house today. Since school started yesterday, I thought it was safe to assume that the playground at McDonald's would be free of big kids. I was wrong. When we got there, there was only one other little boy playing. Within 10 minutes, a whole slew of boys showed up. With their moms of course, but they may as well have been there alone. They were demon children if I've ever seen any. They ranged in age from probably 4-7, and they were craaaazy. The moms didn't seem to care - they just let them beat the crap out of each other. The other mom of the little boy came and sat next to me and was giving the other moms dirty looks, and I can't say I blame her. I know boys will be boys, but damn, control your kids! So, needless to say, we didn't stay at McDonald's long.
I'm starving. I had a cheeseburger at McD's for lunch and some of Peeler's Happy Meal fries, and I just ate a plum, but I'm still starving. Guess that means I'd better cook dinner....
I had to get out of the house today. Since school started yesterday, I thought it was safe to assume that the playground at McDonald's would be free of big kids. I was wrong. When we got there, there was only one other little boy playing. Within 10 minutes, a whole slew of boys showed up. With their moms of course, but they may as well have been there alone. They were demon children if I've ever seen any. They ranged in age from probably 4-7, and they were craaaazy. The moms didn't seem to care - they just let them beat the crap out of each other. The other mom of the little boy came and sat next to me and was giving the other moms dirty looks, and I can't say I blame her. I know boys will be boys, but damn, control your kids! So, needless to say, we didn't stay at McDonald's long.
I'm starving. I had a cheeseburger at McD's for lunch and some of Peeler's Happy Meal fries, and I just ate a plum, but I'm still starving. Guess that means I'd better cook dinner....
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Lexy went back to the doctor today. She was diagnosed with Fibrocystic Breast disease. It's nothing life-threatening or anything, but she does have to go back in for a biopsy the 24th, I think. She has one lump that they are concerned about that they just want to make sure isn't cancerous. She is supposed to limit her fat and caffeine intake and also take a Vitamin E supplement. So I guess she will be fine, pending the results of the biopsy of course.
Speaking of, she's still going headstrong with the wedding idea. I'm supposed to be finding a red dress to wear to her wedding at the courthouse :o| I wish I could just convince her to get pre-martial counseling, but she "doesn't have that kind of money". Whatev.
Speaking of, she's still going headstrong with the wedding idea. I'm supposed to be finding a red dress to wear to her wedding at the courthouse :o| I wish I could just convince her to get pre-martial counseling, but she "doesn't have that kind of money". Whatev.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Whew! We had a busy weekend! We left right after Donald got off work on Friday for Meridian. We got there around 7:30, checked into the hotel, and then went in search of food. We ended up eating at the hotel restaurant, but I think we'd have been better off going to Waffle House. Donald ordered the chicken strip dinner for $7.99 and got 3 chicken strips and about 4 onion rings. After dinner we went swimming, then went right to bed.
Neither one of us slept for crap Friday night. I had to be up at 5:30, and I don't think I got any real sleep until around 2:00. The plan was for me to just drive myself to the test center so Lauren and Donald could sleep in, but of course Lauren woke up the minute I got out of bed. Donald ended up taking me to the test so that Lauren would hopefully fall back asleep in the car, but of course that didn't happen.
I had to be at the center for my first test at 7:30. Testing was supposed to start at 8:00, but our proctor was horrible and didn't manage to get us started until almost 9:00! This first test was Elementary Education: Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment (K-5) which I honestly found to be easy. There were 120 multiple choice questions in 120 minutes. There were only 2-3 questions that I really wasn't sure about - one involving meiosis, which I'm still not sure of the answer even after looking the info up online. The other one that I remember was something involving a pre-writing activity and I kept second-guessing myself. Other than that, I really knew all the material so I think I did pretty well.
I got done with the first test around 11:00, and didn't have to be back for my second exam until 2:15, so we went to the mall, just for something to do. When we walked in, I noticed a sign that said something about a drawing for a $500 mall gift card, so we went and signed up for that. You had to be present to win, so we went to Goody's and I found a few pairs of pants for cheap and then had lunch at a Mexican restaurant. We went to the drawing, and discovered that they were actually giving out 10 gift cards, ranging in value from $25-$500. They first drew the 10 names out, and Donald was called! He went up on stage, and then from the 10 people the drew for the specific cards. He ended up winning $50, which was awesome! We didn't have any more time to shop, though, so now we have a gift card for the Meridian mall and we have no idea when we'll ever be back to Meridian. That's okay, though, because that mall and the mall in Janesville are owned by the same company, so we can use the card in Janesville next time we go home.
I got back to the center at 2:15 for the next test, which was Principles of Learning (5-9). This test was rough! It was four case studies with three constructed response questions for each study, plus 24 multiple choice questions in 2 hours. That basically gave me 5 minutes to write each answer, which is not a lot. I really wasn't that prepared for the content of this exam as I should have been either, which didn't help matters. The first case study was about the social and emotional development of adolescents, and my program has really focused on the under 12 set, so I had to dig waaaay back to my undergrad years for this one. I probably screwed it up. The multiple choice questions were again easy, so hopefully I made up some ground there. We'll see in a month!
After the test, we drove to Philadelphia to play at the casino a bit. Donald and I each had $20. He lost his in a matter of 15 minutes, but I was able to keep mine for at least a half hour before I got bored and we decided to leave. I cashed out with $21.07, so I won a buck. Yippie. We then had dinner at a Chinese buffet, then drove home. We ended up getting home around 10:30 last night. We both passed out promptly. Heh.
Of course Lauren woke up earlier than normal this morning, so that sucked. I spent the day prepping for my Kaplan teacher training course, and Donald picked up the house. My course started at 5:00 and lasted till 9:00. It wasn't as horrible as I'd expected. We had to prepare an introduction, so everyone presented that and then we listened to the trainer yak for 2 hours. Then we had 5 minutes to prepare a lesson, and then had to teach that lesson. My lesson was on verb tense. Considering that it was the first time I'd really ever taught, I think I did okay. I stumbled on the imperfect tense and felt retarded, but other than that I survived. For the next class, I have 2 teach-backs to prepare, both in Reading. The class was interesting, but I'm really not used to sitting in class anymore. I had a horrible headache by the time we were finished.
Okay, well....that's it I guess. I'm POOPED so I'm headed to bed!
Neither one of us slept for crap Friday night. I had to be up at 5:30, and I don't think I got any real sleep until around 2:00. The plan was for me to just drive myself to the test center so Lauren and Donald could sleep in, but of course Lauren woke up the minute I got out of bed. Donald ended up taking me to the test so that Lauren would hopefully fall back asleep in the car, but of course that didn't happen.
I had to be at the center for my first test at 7:30. Testing was supposed to start at 8:00, but our proctor was horrible and didn't manage to get us started until almost 9:00! This first test was Elementary Education: Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment (K-5) which I honestly found to be easy. There were 120 multiple choice questions in 120 minutes. There were only 2-3 questions that I really wasn't sure about - one involving meiosis, which I'm still not sure of the answer even after looking the info up online. The other one that I remember was something involving a pre-writing activity and I kept second-guessing myself. Other than that, I really knew all the material so I think I did pretty well.
I got done with the first test around 11:00, and didn't have to be back for my second exam until 2:15, so we went to the mall, just for something to do. When we walked in, I noticed a sign that said something about a drawing for a $500 mall gift card, so we went and signed up for that. You had to be present to win, so we went to Goody's and I found a few pairs of pants for cheap and then had lunch at a Mexican restaurant. We went to the drawing, and discovered that they were actually giving out 10 gift cards, ranging in value from $25-$500. They first drew the 10 names out, and Donald was called! He went up on stage, and then from the 10 people the drew for the specific cards. He ended up winning $50, which was awesome! We didn't have any more time to shop, though, so now we have a gift card for the Meridian mall and we have no idea when we'll ever be back to Meridian. That's okay, though, because that mall and the mall in Janesville are owned by the same company, so we can use the card in Janesville next time we go home.
I got back to the center at 2:15 for the next test, which was Principles of Learning (5-9). This test was rough! It was four case studies with three constructed response questions for each study, plus 24 multiple choice questions in 2 hours. That basically gave me 5 minutes to write each answer, which is not a lot. I really wasn't that prepared for the content of this exam as I should have been either, which didn't help matters. The first case study was about the social and emotional development of adolescents, and my program has really focused on the under 12 set, so I had to dig waaaay back to my undergrad years for this one. I probably screwed it up. The multiple choice questions were again easy, so hopefully I made up some ground there. We'll see in a month!
After the test, we drove to Philadelphia to play at the casino a bit. Donald and I each had $20. He lost his in a matter of 15 minutes, but I was able to keep mine for at least a half hour before I got bored and we decided to leave. I cashed out with $21.07, so I won a buck. Yippie. We then had dinner at a Chinese buffet, then drove home. We ended up getting home around 10:30 last night. We both passed out promptly. Heh.
Of course Lauren woke up earlier than normal this morning, so that sucked. I spent the day prepping for my Kaplan teacher training course, and Donald picked up the house. My course started at 5:00 and lasted till 9:00. It wasn't as horrible as I'd expected. We had to prepare an introduction, so everyone presented that and then we listened to the trainer yak for 2 hours. Then we had 5 minutes to prepare a lesson, and then had to teach that lesson. My lesson was on verb tense. Considering that it was the first time I'd really ever taught, I think I did okay. I stumbled on the imperfect tense and felt retarded, but other than that I survived. For the next class, I have 2 teach-backs to prepare, both in Reading. The class was interesting, but I'm really not used to sitting in class anymore. I had a horrible headache by the time we were finished.
Okay, well....that's it I guess. I'm POOPED so I'm headed to bed!
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Lauren and I went to Lenny's Subs for lunch today. Afterwards, we walked next door to Micheal's craft store. I still had my cup of ice tea with me, so I let Lauren hang on to it while we were in the store. She was drinking what was left of it while we were waiting in line, and she was being quiet, so I left her alone. Then this old biddy behind me in line asks just what I'm letting my baby drink. I should have replied, "Jack and Coke" but I didn't, and just said tea. Then she said, "Well, I guess that's better for her than Coke." Damn old ladies need to mind their own business. I never give my kid soda and she's had tea about 3 times in her life. 98% of the time she drinks either water or milk. I know what's good and not good for her, I don't need an old crabby lady telling me! Man! Maybe I'm just uptight about these things....
In other news, I'm taking the Praxis II this weekend. We have to go all the way to Meridian for it. I have no idea why there wasn't a test offered in Jackson (it being the biggest city in MS and all...), but whatever. So we're driving down Friday night and coming back Saturday night. I test 7:30-10:30 and 2:30-5:30 (I think). I haven't studied for it at all, so I'm really hoping I pass. Good thing MS has the lowest passing scores in the country. Hah! It kind of irks me that I even have to take it - my initial license will be in Oregon and the Praxis isn't required there - they have their own state exam. But because I'm student teaching in Mississippi, I have to pass the Praxis before I can do that. Anyway, I really wanted to get to Barnes and Noble to read through the study guide, but I don't know if it's going to happen.
Finally, our internet has been crazy slow lately and I hadn't been able to figure out why. We set up a wireless network a few months ago and I guess we never got around to configuring the security settings because last night I discover that there were two other people stealing our internet! Dang them! Paul and Ebony whoever you are...no more stealing my bandwidth! Well they can't now because I set up our security tonight. Took me FOREVER but I think I finally got it figured out. It's going much faster now!
In other news, I'm taking the Praxis II this weekend. We have to go all the way to Meridian for it. I have no idea why there wasn't a test offered in Jackson (it being the biggest city in MS and all...), but whatever. So we're driving down Friday night and coming back Saturday night. I test 7:30-10:30 and 2:30-5:30 (I think). I haven't studied for it at all, so I'm really hoping I pass. Good thing MS has the lowest passing scores in the country. Hah! It kind of irks me that I even have to take it - my initial license will be in Oregon and the Praxis isn't required there - they have their own state exam. But because I'm student teaching in Mississippi, I have to pass the Praxis before I can do that. Anyway, I really wanted to get to Barnes and Noble to read through the study guide, but I don't know if it's going to happen.
Finally, our internet has been crazy slow lately and I hadn't been able to figure out why. We set up a wireless network a few months ago and I guess we never got around to configuring the security settings because last night I discover that there were two other people stealing our internet! Dang them! Paul and Ebony whoever you are...no more stealing my bandwidth! Well they can't now because I set up our security tonight. Took me FOREVER but I think I finally got it figured out. It's going much faster now!
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