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So now the summer is over, the lazy days I spent are now just memories in the haze. Today as I was walking home I was thinking about how I would like a classroom blog. Not necessarily one where I talk about useful teaching things (since I'm not sure I will have many useful things to say), but rather about the funny/quirky/outlandish/ridiculous things that happen in the classroom in order to celebrate the many things that remain untold about what happens behind the closed doors.

As I am now only in my practicum stage I am only in the classroom about once a week so updates may seem slim but I will try my best. I will begin with last week. Right now my experience is limited to only a few classes as I am only there once a week from about 7:30am to 12:00pm. Because of this I am only around for the first 4 periods of the day. Last week as I was leaving two of the girls in the 5th hour class shouted after me: "We think you're cool!" I was fairly shocked as I know they did not know who I was, I suspected that either they were not talking to me or perhaps they were brown-nosing just a bit. I soon discovered that they were talking to me, even if they were brown-nosing, it kind of made my day. :)

So Long and Thanks for all the Fish

To My Writing Classmates

So, I can't believe it is the last day of SOLS. I'm a little grateful but a little sad too. I think that this activity really did stretch my writing and creativity skills though, for better or for worse. I think that what I will miss most it exactly as Professor Dean described: the feeling of community that we established as a class between those who posted and read others' posts. You all really did teach me a lot and I wish that I was as creative or as good a writer as you all seem to be--thank you for teaching me.

The best to you all! I shall miss you.

Jess

Ode to BYU Registering

Oh BYU registering system!
Why dost thou torment me?
I plan in advance and prepare as best
I can but to no avail.

For at midnight there are so
Many on the site that it kicks me off
And seems to laugh at me
woe is me.

Thus I have to struggle with the
Thousands of other students
fighting for bandwidth
at midnight.

Midnight is such an annoying
Time to be up and struggling,
Racing an unknown enemy,
Fighting for classes-

So many classes to take
Yet not enough are offered
Fight to get the last spot--only
To be kicked off the site once again

Great and powerful nemesis,
I shall yet see the back of thee!
Torment me no longer! For I have
But one further time to face thee.

Then I shall see thy back forever
Never again will you rule my nights
Your reign of darkness draws to a close
And day shall see a new master has risen.

Room to Breathe

So, in the past two days I have turned in 4 papers. I now get a little bit of breathing room, at least until next Tues and Thurs when two different semester-long projects are due. *sigh* Well, three more weeks to go!

As stressful as it is sometimes this time of year is also really fun. I get to start planning my garden, look forward to not having homework for a while, etc. The only problem is trying to find a full-time job that only needs someone for the summer. I got really lucky last year because I got a clerical position since one of the admins was going on maternity leave for the summer months. Well, hopefully everything will work out.

Happy Spring

Prezi

So I made my first Prezi today and let me just tell everyone how much FUN I had! I never would have believed that I would have so much fun making a presentation and that it would be as easy as it was. I did it because it is one of the genres in my Inquiry project for Dr. Grierson so it is all about using technology in the classroom. I think it may seem a little scattered but it also seems that that is the nature of the program.

Anyway, if you want to check it out it is here: http://prezi.com/ct8haz2jpqfs/using-technology-in-the-classroom/

Now go make one of your own, and have fun!

Mountains

Mountain

A mist-enshrouded,

guardian of the valley,
all-seeing mother.

Small Joys

I think I will leave off my woes of no internet, wasted time, and little work and focus on the good today. I got a new jacket and I got a free massage! My husband is currently a student of massage therapy up in Lindon. He has clinic every Saturday and today we had free passes. Rather than waste gas going and coming more than we needed we both went up to the school. I was supposed to be able to get my homework done while he was working. That didn't really work out very well but I did go to Savers to kill some time so I got a new jacket and finally a nice massage. Yay for the small joys in life :)

Snow

So, yesterday's post couldn't have been more timely. What's with the snow today?! I remember seeing that on the weather and thinking--yeah right, 40-something degrees and snow? Probably snow to rain is more likely. I stand corrected, and ankle-deep in slush. eagh.

There was a time when I looked forward to snow. I LOVED snow! Snow is magical and has a way of making things look clean and enchanted. Alas, I am ready for Spring and for that to happen the snow needs to move on. It got to have its share of fun in the Northeast and Midwest already this year and even if we got less than usual that is no reason for it to come back over here. It's as if Jack Frost is playing a prolonged April Fool's joke on us and it isn't that funny.

Then again maybe it's a conspiracy of teachers and parents to keep all the students inside this weekend to work on homework, papers, and other projects. . .

Spring

My thoughts on our weather recently. I'm with Danae, the weather needs to stop tricking us. Oh look! I'm warming up! Take out your jackets and lighter clothes! PSYCH! Guess what?! It's snowing! I know that this is Utah and that these things happen but still it was supposed to be in the 50s all week and now this. Still, at least it gives us a few funny comics like this :)

Spring Cleaning

Today I did a little bit of spring cleaning. The bedroom and the kitchen were my areas of concentration but I also did our outside walk a little bit. I finally caught up on some laundry and folding that needed to be done, went through some papers, etc. that needed to be trashed, and even cleaned the stove and oven.

Why would I be doing this when I know that I have so much homework that is soon to be due? Partly because I'm still sharing my computer with my husband since my computer died and partly because I am waiting, impatiently, for my new computer to arrive.

The first thing I do when I open this computer now is track the status of my new computer. I hold my breath, wondering if it has made it to Utah yet. . .YES! It is now in North Salt Lake! Oh happy day when I no longer have to compete for homework time! Soon now...soon.

Waiting

This is just one of those weeks where it is only Tuesday but somehow it feels like it's Thursday, or as if it should be Thursday, anyway. I can't really account for why I keep thinking it's Thursday. I should realize that our Inquiry paper is due Thursday and should be wishing that day as far away from me as possible.

Instead I am finding that I wish to just let the next few weeks fly by as fast as possible rather than delay the inevitable--looming projects of doom, determined to forever follow me both in grades and in teaching ability. I look at it like I look at the band aid principle. Let's just go at it fast and get it over with rather than drawing out the sleepless nights and the guilt of homework left undone haunting us for weeks on end.

Alas, we still have four more weeks of projects and test and weeks of suspense after that as we wait for the grades to bring us our results. I always hated waiting. . .

VITA

Those of you who are teachers are probably thinking that this is about a teaching VITA. Actually this is about the VITA lab at BYU. Those of you who read my blog might remember that I spent my entire Saturday attempting to do my taxes. At last, out of desperation and exhaustion worrying whether or not I made a mistake, I signed up for an appointment at the VITA lab where the accounting students will file your taxes for FREE. Can't recommend it more! I spent hours and hours on Turbo Tax and TaxAct trying to figure out what in the world I was doing. I went to the VITA lab today and I was out in under an hour and they got me the same refund for which Turbo Tax and TaxAct would have charged me! I couldn't be happier!

Late Bloomer

So. . .I feel as if I have nothing particularly clever or witty or important to say today. I wish I did but the fact is that it is getting harder and harder for me to come up with topics to write about. I guess that this is something that this activity is supposed to teach us about. That true writers must be able to make themselves write even when they don't want to or even when the "syrup isn't flowing." I tried that when I was in high school and I feel as if I was more successful at it at that time, maybe it was just because I had more confidence back then.

I used to dream that one day I would write--I always loved reading so much and dreamed of writing my own book--but I have never really had a good idea for a story that hasn't been done. I don't even have a creative twist for one that has been done. Maybe it's just writer's block. Diana Wynne Jones didn't write her first book until she was much older than I. Perhaps I'm a late bloomer?

My Accountant Files with Turbo Tax

My accountant files his taxes with Turbo Tax. Granted, my accountant is my brother who is an accounting student but he is supposedly graduating this year. We have spent the entire day so far going over my tax information and trying to figure out the very confusing and abusive state tax system. I should be doing homework right now. I can't believe that I am blowing off homework, not to do something fun and exciting, but to do something very much like homework *sigh*

I can't believe he wants to do this for a living. Of course, I guess people could say the same about teaching. . .Why don't we get paid the same as accountants?

OPS

SD: "Hey Ops, we've got a big problem!"

"We're getting a lot of calls on network slowness!"

OPS: "Where are you seeing the problem? How many calls have you gotten?"

SD: "Well, just one but it's from a CSR in one of the open access labs!"

My thoughts: when did "a lot of calls" become equal to ONE? "We've" got a problem? You mean YOU'VE got a problem. Really?! You are calling to complain about network slowness when everyone on campus is streaming March Madness?

Such is a lovely day in the life of NOC personnel. . .Everyone calling the service desk with their problems and then the service desk trying to pass them off onto us. Not that I blame them too much, but sometimes they go a little too far since they have a tendency to make mountain ranges out of a mole hill. Couldn't do without them, for sure, but it's pretty hard to deal with their issues on top of actual emergencies that we are dealing with at the same time with a far greater importance than a single CSR who can't get the game because everyone else is watching it.

Emerald City

I always loved the part in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy and Co. finally make it to the Emerald City and every thing is green! Green is my favorite color, especially Emerald green. Perhaps it is due to my Irish blood but I always have had an affinity for the color. That is why I love St. Patrick's Day so much because for one day of the year everyone has to wear my favorite color or suffer the consequences! Muahahahaha! St. Patrick's Day was always a big day in my family anyway since that is my parents' anniversary. We never had corned beef but my mom would die everything green! Pea soup, green mashed potatoes, green sugar cookies with green icing, always lots of salad and green veggies, one year we even had green eggs!

I love St. Patrick's Day, and if I would have had my way I would have gotten married today too but my husband refused to wait a year. . .go figure. At least I can carry on the traditions of St. Patrick's Day in my own home: Oh Sam I Am! Dinner Time!

Big Red

First and foremost, although I have lived in Missouri for longer, I have always been and will always be a Texas girl. My mom and I are the only ones in the family who have any trace of an accent, and it always gets stronger when we talk to each other or to someone else with an accent. Anyway, there are so many things I miss about Texas (for starters see the song "Come Back to Texas" by Bowling for Soup. I miss the space, I miss Whataburger, I miss the accents, and I miss Big Red.

Big Red is a soda (not pop--soda). It is most similar to a red cream soda such as the Bargs version they have on campus. Big Red was first and it is better. Unfortunately, Big Red is extremely hard to find outside of the South. In Texas it's everywhere, in restaurants, in 2 liters, cans, 20 oz bottles, etc. Out here I'm lucky if I can find it at a gas station and I've NEVER found it in a grocery store or restaurant outside the South. Until today!

I was pursuing through the aisles of Macey's as usual when I happened upon a pallet of Pepsi and Mt Dew when I saw it--like a diamond in the rough the ruby red shown out past the blues and the greens and I almost couldn't believe my eyes! I called my mom to brag of my great discovery (she deserves it since she does the same thing to me with Whataburger) and continued my shopping in the most elated of moods. I guess my excitement was still showing when I checked out because I only had to say three words before the clerk noticed my accent and commented on it, asking where I was from.

"I'm from TEXAS!!"

Sense of Impending Doom

I'm not sure whether this is a compliment or not but I have recently been reading Watership Down for the first time and I really don't like it. The story is great and I think that it took amazing talent to write: The world creation and characterization are near perfect. That is not why I do not like it. I don't like this book because I cannot shake the feeling that something dreadful is going to happen at some point, and soon. I become like a rabbit myself, constantly white-eyed and nervous of the elil (enemies) and dangers that exist around every corner.

I believe that a lot of this is due to the fact that when I was little my mom rented this movie for us once. Not recommended--this is not the most kid-friendly movie--and though I remember nothing about the plot except for the fact that the rabbits were running away from something reasonably terrible, dodging cats and hawks, etc., and trying to find a good home, I seem to remember a lot more blood and death than has been in the book so far. We never did finish it and it was so long ago I am left to wonder: Are there greater dangers still to come or did the movie or my imagination exaggerate said dangers?

I guess that it is the sign of a good author to really bring the reader into the book, to make us feel like we are there, that we are part of the story. Unfortunately I cannot enjoy the book because I keep thinking that something terrible is going to happen! They've come so far and I don't want anything to happen to them but it would be almost too perfect for them to get off without anything happening. I am now halfway through the book and still none of the original crew have died, which is a good sign considering what they've been through. I hope their good luck continues. . .

Let Them Eat Pie!

Happy Pi Day Everyone! I have decided to celebrate by eating pie :) I always hated math but this, at least, is one good thing that it has given us, along with bridges and fine architecture. As I sit here typing, smelling the wonderful aroma of my "Vanilla Swirl" candle and dreaming of the pie that I will make as soon as I finish my homework, I am reminded that in one month the semester will be over and bring me more time to catch up on the recreation that I have seen so little of this semester as well as cook and clean and do all the things my husband misses me doing since the semester got so crazy.

Of course, this also warns that things have to get worse before they can get better and I know that there are many more papers to write and projects to finish before the end of April and I need to stop dreaming about pie and get back to work. *sigh* Farewell pie! Until we meet again! (In one month!)

Thunderstorms

The weather today has been most interesting...While I love the sunshine and spring weather as much as everyone else the storm that has been threatening to descend upon us today intrigues me. I love storms (when I am inside or have the option of being inside that is). One of my favorite things to do when I was younger, since storms are frequent in southern Missouri in the late spring and summer, is sit on my window seat and read as a storm rages outside. Utah does not really seem to have many true thunderstorms so it is a day like this when I hold my breath--and wait.

Nerd

I think of one of the things that my husband loves about me most is that I am a geek. I am more of a geek than he is. I know computers pretty well and I game. In fact, I brought more game consoles and pc games into our marriage than he did. Even more than that, he loves that I play D&D with him. For those of you who are not geeks or just aren't that old, D&D stands for Dungeons and Dragons and it is a creative role-playing game.

It sounds silly, I know, but it is actually really fun and it really boosts creativity. We are even playing tonight. We get a group together about every week and spend way too much time battling monsters and finding treasure. I'm the rogue in the party (i.e. the thief) so I think I have the most fun but to each his own. D&D is a world of imagination--enter at your own risk because here there be monsters! But the real danger is that once you try it out, you might not be able to stop :)

Creative Spirit

It seems to me that, as the semester has gone on, my creative spirit is somehow being drained, not weakened, drained. I fear this development and I do not know if it is reversible or permanent. . . Really the problem is that it never seems to be there when I really need it.

For some hours now I have been trying to finish my Reversal paper but it my mind is not functioning and it is only going in circles. I can't believe that it would desert me like this! At such a crucial time too! Where did it get such a rebellious spirit? Certainly not from me...I really hate to fall to desperate measures but it seems that I am going to have to resort to bribery and I shall have to fuel my brain with cookies. *sigh*

Married Housing

I have been hearing of so many engagements recently and many of my friends have sought my advice on married housing. While I am not the authority I thought that it might be worthwhile to explain the situation here. Starter housing is some of the most comical, frustrating, and fun part of marriage.

As many of you may identify with, my housing situation is not the most ideal. When I was single it wasn't too much better but then since I lived in cheaper housing I had extra spending money. Now that I am married and housing is 3x more expensive things are a lot tougher. I remember when we originally found this apartment on Craigslist. Both my husband and I were living in Missouri at the time so finding married housing in Provo was not the easiest thing to accomplish, especially housing that was within our budget. We thought we hit the jackpot when we finally found a basement apartment that was only $425 a month and was within walking distance of campus. It wasn't all roses, the landlord raised the rent to $460 and the slow mailing system combined to almost have us lose the place, but we got it!

I also recall the day we moved in: having driven straight through from Missouri we were SO ready to unpack, roll out our sleeping bags and rest. Imagine our surprise when we enter the apartment to find out that there had never been an exit check done when the last couple moved out. There was food on the floor, crumbs and dust and dirt in the cabinet, and black mold covered the entire back wall of the bedroom. To this day I'm not too sure why we didn't just move out right then. I took enough pictures to have easily gotten us out of the contract. Still, we couldn't find anything else that fit the budget so, we stayed.

Seven months later we are still here. The door is still broken, there is still wood missing from the workers who removed the termite infestation that was at the root of the mold, and the 1960s oven is also now finally broken but we are still here. We look around from time to time and sigh but we also laugh to each other that this will truly be a memory to look back on for years to come.