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I'll admit it. When it comes to work, I procrastinate quite often, though I'm 100x better than I used to be. However, in the things that are important to me, I'm not much of one.
Last winter, my dad was diagnosed with cancer - the incurable kind. Looking online for information on that particular type of cancer, it seemed to me that the diagnosis was pretty grim, but between support meetings and doctors, they heard about some people who lived as long as 20+ years with it. It all depends on where the cancer focuses its energies. For my dad, it started in his back.
Even without that, those not living in denial will realize that the treatment for cancer is detrimental to ones health & appearance. With that in mind, I thought that last June would be the perfect time to get a family photo. I wanted to get one professionally done, but my parents figured that they would just get one done at home. Really? We haven't had a proper family photo EVER, and you're skimping on this. Shockingly, it never happened (not even snapshots). Now, my dad is in terrible pain & about to start his chemo.
Yup, I waited until the last minute on papers in college. BIG whoop. My parents are apparently going to wait until our family reduces in size before getting this thing done.Current Mood:  annoyed |
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So, I applied for the Fulbright Teacher Exchange in October. It's a long, drawn-out process, and this morning was the interview. I'm in Evansville for Jennifer's shower, so I was sitting, grading tests (online) when my mom told me that Verizon was down. CRAP! I emailed my Fulbright contact with the landline number, and proceeded to think about how quickly I would change phone carriers if I missed my phone call.
Shortly after 9am, the landline rang, and I decided to hold off on the cancellation call. The committee consisted of 4 former exchange teachers, and I was rather disappointed about the questions. I'd read that they'd probably ask more of the culture-shock type questions (which is where I rock!), but instead it was more of the "How do you deal with adversity?" or "What is your classroom management style?" I suck ass on those questions. What is an example of when I had to deal with a difficult situation? MY FIRST YEAR of TEACHING!! How did I get through it? I simply held on (for dear life) to what was left of my sanity! But, no, that wouldn't seem 'cricket,' would it? So, I just spewed some BS about discussing the situation with colleagues, and coming up with strategies. ARGH!!
I don't know why we couldn't do the interview in person! They were all in St. Louis - I could've stayed there this morning and my excitement would have come out & taken over the nervous exterior. When I last went job hunting, I went on two interviews - one of which scored my current job, and the other which felt like this one.Current Mood:  disappointed |
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...when you don't want to go to bed.
No, it's not that I'm not tired, but I'm in the afterglow of watching a really good movie. Yes, I just typed that about a random film.
The movie in question? The Movie Hero.Current Mood:  cheerful |
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So, I went to this TMBG concert on Friday, and I knew that standing would hurt my back, but hey, it's a once a year thing for them to come to St. Louis, and I was meeting up with a group of people who are big time into the whole front row thing. Of course, my back felt horrible Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Today, I wake up, and it's not much better, but I promised the librarian that I would help her shelve some books. BAD idea. By the end of lunch, I could barely walk. I stayed in the teacher's lounge until I could walk up to my classroom... or shuffle, I should say. My student teacher has already taken over my classes, so I gave her my key and left an hour early. I figured that if I waited much longer, I wouldn't be able to make it to my car.
Somehow, I managed to make it inside Walgreen's. The heating pad I bought feels good, but the "fast-acting" extra strength Bayer is CRAP. There are still very few positions that I can sit/lay without too much pain. Argh! I might finally use a sick day for an actual instance of incapacitation.Current Mood:  sore |
| » Sometimes teaching is funny... |
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So, I currently have a student teacher, which is great. Ignoring the whole issue of her doing my job for me later on in the semester, it's nice to have someone to chat with all the time. She probably tells her husband every evening about the crazy teacher that she's working with.
Anyway, as it always seems to be right before grades are due, I have had very little planning period time this week. On Monday, I watched a class, Tuesday was a meeting with Marissa's (my student teacher) college liaison (or whatever), Wednesday was a meeting with the superintendent, and I ALMOST lost my prep again today!
I'd had an enjoyable lunch, and near the end of the passing period, we were headed back to my room when I heard a call from the counselor who asked if I was watching so-and-so's class. I told her that I wasn't planning to, and she told me to talk to the secretaries. Everyone apparently thought that "so-and-so" had asked me to cover, which she had not. So, I handed off my keys to my student teacher and told her that she could just do whatever in my room until I made it back.
The class I went into was one of seniors, and they'd completed their assignment the day before. Fortunately, the counselor came back and let me off the hook, but even my student teacher thought that it was ridiculous that they would ask me to cover a class last minute like that.
I've already offered the librarian some help shelving once Marissa takes over, but at the rate these guys have been fumbling the covering of classes, I have a feeling that I might just be used as an extra sub. The last couple of years, the secretaries have stopped doing some extra things for the staff (like printing out forms at conference time). That's totally fine (they're busy gals), but it would be REALLY nice if they would let us know when they plan to quite doing this or that. I have a feeling that's part of the mix-up with the covering of classes.
Sep. 24th, 2009 @ 08:38 pm
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| » Travelling thoughts |
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So, unfortunately, I'm back from Hawaii, and right now, my sister and I are planning on an Alaskan cruise. Tara says that I should bring two bags, but I really only want to bring the usual one, particularly since all the airlines are charging $$ for checked luggage. The most I'd consider adding would be one of those wheelie ones that people carry-on, but 1) I saw the trouble people were having finding space for those on the planes and 2) I don't know if there'll be room for anything BUT our luggage in our room.
But, yeah... it should be fun. Is it summer yet? Once I see if I'm docked for taking off the Friday before spring break (which, incidentally, was a day OFF when I booked my trip), I'm going to have to re-calculate my budget and book my other summer trips.
Does anyone out there have some cruise line experiences they'd like to share? We'll be going on Royal Carribbean.
Apr. 1st, 2009 @ 11:25 pm
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| » Hello from HAWAII! |
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Howdy all - it's been a long time since I last posted, but I just wanted to post an aloha from Hawaii. I visited the Volcano today, and to sum it up, I must come back some day and do all the trails... you know, when the poisonous gas levels are a little bit lower :-)
Anyway, I'm definitely NOT looking forward to going back home. This place is awesome!
Mar. 25th, 2009 @ 06:45 pm
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| » I want to go to Pittsburgh... |
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Well, not right now, but it's been a couple of years since I've been back there. As much as I want to check out some new places this summer, I might just have to take a road trip. The last couple of times that I visited my aunt in West Virginia (with my mom), we took a road trip there, but I don't think my mom will go back there for awhile, so there goes that. So, solo trip it is. I need to check if my friend from there, Diana, is on facebook. Hmmm...
Oh, and the real reason I've been thinking about Pittsburgh? I've been watching old episodes of "The Guardian," and it took place there.
Jan. 27th, 2009 @ 12:09 pm
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| » Pile of shows... |
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I've watched most of my Alan Arkin (must update webpage!) and Anthony Michael Hall stuff, so the last few days, I've been running low on the obsession front. Sure, I had quite a few DLs to watch, but I have to be in the right mood for them. Last week, while in the midst of a Dead Zone phase, I acquired a few episodes of "The Mentalist," and I enjoyed them, but I had to get finished with my DZ/AMH thing first. Then, Thursday and Friday night, I watched most of the rest of the first 12 episodes of "The Mentalist," and you know what? It's a really good show.
Now, when Simon Baker was on "The Guardian," I remember taping a few episodes (I really liked it), so I started looking through my tape collection to see if I could locate an episode or two. I didn't have any luck on my tapes that were labeled, so I started checking through some of the unlabeled tapes. Man, I didn't realize how many of those were sitting around here! I ended up just throwing most of them away, but while I was looking for "The Guardian," I found a few episodes (3) of another show from the same time period, "Blind Justice," as well as "Touching Evil" (US version). So many good shows, so little time.
So, now, not only am I on a Simon Baker kick, but I've also gotten on a bit of a cleaning kick. Well, actually, by cleaning, I mean going through some crap and taking a bunch of stuff to Goodwill. But, my place looks tons better (thank you Starbucks coffee). Go me. Now, to get my butt in gear and to the work out place!
Jan. 18th, 2009 @ 03:42 pm
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| » Post Visit Update... |
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Saturday morning, I woke up a little after 8am, and left for E'ville a little after 9am. Once I made it to town, I called Mom to get a grocery list, and went to Schnucks while I was waiting for Tara to get into town. By about 2:20pm or so, Tara and I made it up to the 6th floor of Gateway to visit Dad. It wasn't really a bad visit, though he was in obvious pain. My brother, Jeff, and his girlfriend, Lori, came in to visit soon after, so it was the whole family. We chatted a bit (the females in the room, anyway), and Jeff & Lori left a little after 4pm. Not too much longer after that, my Dad gave a big long speech which was his way of saying, "I'm in tons of pain here, and I really can't deal with company anymore," so Tara and I left.
Anyway, they aren't 100% sure what type of cancer it is, but the top candidates are multi-myeloma and plastocytoma. MM isn't the worst diagnosis possible, but according to the health site I'm looking at (http://www.bcm.edu/oto/grand/32896.html), the average survival period is <3 years, versus plastocytoma, which is closer to 10 years. The internet can be a scary tool...
Jan. 11th, 2009 @ 01:07 am
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| » Update... |
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Well, my dad had the surgery this morning. They weren't able to remove all of the tumor, and it is malignant. Still, he is apparently in pretty good spirits (or at least high on pain meds). From talking to my mom, it seems like my parents are great with the "in sickness" part of their marriage vows. It's just the "in health" part they struggle with. It also seems to be allowing my mom to get things a bit into perspective. There is a couple (as in husband/wife) that works at my dad's store, and my mom doesn't really get along with them at all. When I was a teen, I worked a couple of weeks with the man, Jim, and I didn't have a problem with him, but he and my mom have just never gotten along. The wife, I have only met in passing, but she annoys my mom.
Anyway, those two stayed with my mom at the hospital, to help her get through the nervous (four) hours of surgery. They might be many things, but at the very least, they were there for her. I'm really glad of that.
So, my dad's going to be recovering at the hospital the next few days, and in light of the results of the biopsy, I've decided to make a day trip to E'ville to see them. I was just going to watch movies and work out anyway, so I'd say that it's a fair trade. Besides, my mom's been really stressed the last few days, so maybe I can lighten the mood a bit.
Jan. 9th, 2009 @ 11:16 pm
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| » Down with the Sickness... |
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So, my dad is going into the hospital tomorrow. He's had some pain in his shoulder and numbness in his hands for about a month now, and at first they thought it might be a pinched nerve (or something along those lines), but after the MRI yesterday, they discovered that he has a tumor on his shoulder. Remember, this is coming third hand, but my mom says that it's on the back part of his shoulder, on what they called a t-junction or something like that. So, tomorrow, they're going to have a biopsy done to see if it's malignant, and I'm assuming that they're going to remove it at the same time.
Anyway, I was actually surprised at how upset my mom was about it. I mean, I honestly feel that they should have gotten divorced about twenty-plus years ago, and she's always b*tching about him, but still, she was too nervous to eat this morning (before a doctor's appointment).
Sometimes, I just don't get my parents...
Jan. 8th, 2009 @ 04:01 pm
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| » Producers need a best by date.... |
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So, the last few days, I've been watching a bunch of Dead Zone episodes. I skipped around quite a bit, but I did a best-of type marathon for the first three seasons, and then I watched most of the last three. The reason for the marathon? Jennifer bought me my missing season, so it seemed the sensible thing to do. You know, it's quite a bit quieter than playing the drums on Rock Band.
Anyway, the main thing that came out at me is this: as much as I enjoyed that show, they probably should have canceled it after the third season... or, at the very least, they should NOT have done that sixth season. When the new sheriff chick is about my age, that's definitely not a good thing. In fact, even the guest casting was basically crap that season. I don't know if that was because of the budget, the casting director, or being in Montreal (not as big of a tv city as Vancouver), but the non-names simply weren't as good as before. Then again, the stories were fairly poor as well, so better actors probably wouldn't have saved that season.
Oh, and while I'm nit-picking things, does anyone in the television sector of the entertainment industry have a grasp of what's actually in a small town? In the beginning of series like Dead Zone or Smallville (which I stopped watching a couple seasons ago), the writers/etc. are mindful of this, keeping it more like a town of <5000. But then, they keep making the town bigger and bigger, so as to allow more options. In fact, at one point in Smallville, there was a sign stating the population as 70k+. Sorry, but that's not a small town!
I seriously need to limit to televisions marathons... Well, after I watch some episodes of the Mentalist, finish Merlin, and watch some Netflix movies.
Jan. 4th, 2009 @ 02:52 pm
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| » Hawaiian Trip = Booked! |
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For me, I've been procrastinating a bit on booking my Hawaiian Trip... just because. Anyway, I finally booked it, and here's what it looks like
March 20th - STL to Oahu
March 20th-22nd - Check out Pearl Harbor, Beaches, Shopping Areas
March 23rd - Oaho to The Big Island
March 23rd-26th - See the Volcano, more beaches, etc.
March 27th - back to St. Louis
I originally priced the trip in November, and by procrastinating, I have saved myself about $250! Cool!
Jan. 1st, 2009 @ 07:52 pm
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| » Don't forget your live screening! |
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So, I just finished watching "Deadly Business," and I popped open my computer. Since my background is the Joker, I always have to do my (horrible impression of) "Why so Serious." When I finished saying that, I suddenly realized that tonight's Chris Nolan's "Dark Knight" screening thingy. Anyway, it starts in 7 minutes! Woohoo!
"And here we GO!"
Dec. 18th, 2008 @ 07:47 pm
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| » Unintentionally funny! |
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Is it bad that every time the local news talks about the Blagojevich situation, or even has a promo about it, I laugh? Oh well.
Dec. 17th, 2008 @ 09:58 pm
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| » Snow day & I rock! |
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No school today because of ice! Initially, I didn't want our schedule screwed up for this week, but once we got the precip, I REALLY didn't want to have to try to get out of my complex. It'll probably be a couple hours before the area is treated. That being said, I heard the maintenance people (I'm guessing it was them) walking around to check how icy the walkways were.
Oh, and why do I rock? There's a CD out there that is just about impossible to find. It's been out of print for 8 or so years. None of the usual sources (auction/resale sites) had it (which is amazing in and of itself), and the closest library with a copy was in Chicago (I looked it up on WorldCat). Even the MP3 sites (for streaming or purchase) only had a record of it - no tunes. However, I found a copy of it in freakin' Australia. I emailed customer service to make sure it was the correct CD, and it was!
Dec. 15th, 2008 @ 05:56 am
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| » (No Subject) |
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Anyone want to join a new comm?
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) alan_arkin_fans
I just started it up, so it's a lonely comm.
Dec. 13th, 2008 @ 10:58 pm
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| » Potential future trip... |
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There's an interesting article on yahoo:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/3122301
Short version: Apparently, Obama wants to loosen some of the restrictions on the retarded embargo against Cuba. I don't know if y'all realize this, but Americans aren't officially allowed to travel there. Sure, there are sneaky ways to get around it, but even Cuban Americans can only legally visit once every three years (according to the article), and you aren't allowed to spend American dollars there.
My cynical side believes that, at best, Obama will simply return the restrictions to pre-Bush levels, but I really would like them to go away for good. I couldn't possibly care less what happened 40 years ago. Let's move on - I'd like to be able to check that place out some day.
Dec. 12th, 2008 @ 06:53 pm
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