This Day

Today was... amusing. I started the day composing a blog post in my head which disappeared about noon. At least a computer would have saved it.

I dropped my stainless steel water bottle in the library on the hard floor so the sound of it dropping and rolling reverberated up to the third floor. Oops! Thankfully, the librarians don't shush on the first floor.

In my first class, the principal from one of our partner schools was visiting. She was on call though from the school as she had a 2nd grader pummel her this morning (mom and the school psychologist were involved in the situataion) but she was going to be needed back soon. She's a really awesome principal with some great strategies and believes in her teachers! I'm looking forward to when she comes back just for in the trenches story day. She was there today to explain how her school was working to fulfill No Child Left Behind.

I discovered that my physics professor left our final exams in a box in the hallway during break for us to pick up but the box has gone missing and with it my exam! Not happy about that! Other than my work and amazing grade ;) there isn't much information to be gleaned but still...

I need to give a 3 minute speech this week on a current event for my touchy feely argumentation class. You mean I have to be nice and argue at the same time? ;)

Next week, I get to teach a 30 minute section of my history of education class. My topic? The Blue Back Speller, McGuffey Readers, Horn books and New England Primer as a source of stability/standards in education! I'm loosely affiliated with the Noah Webster group. I'm actually really excited about this but nervous about getting the research done in time. Especially since my first teaching test is Saturday!!! I grew up reading the McGuffey Readers (the fourth one is my favorite). I'm such a book nerd!

Once next week is over, I should be able to breathe a little more but until then:
LIVE as Jesus would
LAUGH just because
LOVE like God commanded us

Random musings

The following are random collections of thought that have little connection between them.

My brain was a week ahead last week. Somehow the 22nd was the weekend before the 4th, 5th and 6th. Wishful (?) thinking.

After replacing most of the power steering stuff on my car, we now are mysteriously losing power steering fluid. hmmm.

Classes started today. I couldn't sleep last night. I wish it was because I was excited or because The Horse and His Boy was that exciting. But no. I was in worried mode. I need to find a summer job. My roommate is going to steal my olive oil because I couldn't communicate my thoughts well. My W2s are missing from two of my employers. My textbooks I ordered online are going to be late and I'll fall behind. Do I need to buy turbo tax? What if the apartment burns down because my roommate is cooking? Yeah.

I'm a dealer. Book dealer that is. I spent this morning giving people books, buying books from friends and figuring out how to make the most out of our literary financial investments. Wall Street has nothing on the buying, selling and trading that happens on a college campus.

My Car

My car celebrated it's 23rd year on the road as of January. I was two that year but I didn't meet the Blue Buckaroo until 7 years ago. We've celebrated in a grand style... with a trip to our favorite repair shop! I was hoping the birthday visit would just be a quick, cheap (haha) fix. Knowing my car, I had a slight hope that the problem would disappear when we pulled in like the random temperature gauge fluctuations that never seems to show up at the repair shop.

No such luck.

My car has other special "features" too. Ever seen the Bill Nye: The Science Guy grass car?
It looked something like this:

Photo curtesy of: http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2548389&page=2

Well, my car likes that look! Only on the inside...

Every winter, the wheel well in the trunk becomes Lake Sparetire. When the car warms in the sun, the water condenses on the trunk roof and then it "rains".

Yes, ladies and gentlemen there you have it... the complete water cycle! TADA!

I could grow a tropical rain forest if I had lights back there.

For a while, I had a waterfall feature in the front seat passenger side: courtesy of the sunroof. My sister still ducks when she gets in the car during rainy weather.

This winter, I had a marsh spring up on the driver's side front and back carpets. I'm thinking at this rate, I should look into rice farming. Or at the very least, growing sprouts in there.

My car: the new urban growing space!?!

New Beginnings

I feel a slight obligation to post some synopsis of the last year and reflect on all the changes that have happened.

Well, here is 2010 in one word: change.
Good change.
Hard change.
Sad change.
All of it God changed.

But God himself doesn't change!

Odd happenings

I promised (hinted) before leaving for the land of Spare Oom that I would share the not so quiet night before leaving to come home.

That night, I went to bed around 11:00 (so much for that routine) and dropped off about midnight. At 2:30 a.m., one of my roommates came into the house talking on her cell phone. After going in and out of her room a couple times, she settled in and the house was quiet again.

At 5:30, I was wakened by the sound of someone (male) banging on our front door and calling loudly "RAAAYBEEEE!" I waited a little bit thinking someone knew this person was coming and was expecting him. No one answered the door and he kept calling out: "RAAAYYBEEE! I'm heerre RAAYBBEE!" Then he tried the door knob! Don't worry, we keep our doors locked.

At this point, I became my mother when we disturb her sleep; I poked my head out my door (I can see the window out onto the porch from my door so I could see a young man with a backpack standing at the door) and said, "Excuse me, but some people are trying to sleep around here"! You have to say it in a very short, clipped, firm manner to get the full effect. He bent to peer in the window (which was open, thus he could hear me) and apologized while asking if Ray lived here. My response: "Unfortunately, he does not!" Once again in a short, clipped and now slightly exasperated manner. He apologized again and left. I went and closed the window, dropped the blinds all the way and double checked the door.

It was such a weird experience. I'm just so thankful it turned out the way it did. I actually find it funny and laughable! I wonder if he found RAYYBEEE!

P.S. I know I haven't posted pictures from my garden lately but I was a little embarrassed as my easy to grow, never had trouble before, beautiful peas have died off or are in the process of dying. I don't know what happened exactly but I've never had trouble with gardening and to admit failure doesn't come easy to me. My garden also is looking neglected as finals and going home left them a little abandoned. Pics will come "soon". ;)